Raza Jaffrey

Raza Jaffrey is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Zafar Younis in the BBC One spy drama series Spooks (2004–2007) and Neal Hudson in the CBS medical drama Code Black. He also had a recurring role as Aasar Khan in season 4 of the Showtime series Homeland (2014). More recently, he appeared in the NBC series The Enemy Within (2019) and the Starz series The Serpent Queen (2022–2024).

Early life and education Jaffrey's father, Hyder Jaffrey, was born in Agra, India, and later moved to Pakistan after Partition. Hyder Jaffrey emigrated to the UK in 1948 to train in the merchant navy and later became a captain. Hyder met Joan Bradshaw, an Irish Catholic Liverpudlian, in the early 1950s and they lived in Karachi, Pakistan, for a decade. The couple married in 1962 and had four children, of whom Raza was the youngest.

Jaffrey grew up in London and was educated at Dulwich College between 1986 and 1991, alongside actors Rupert Penry-Jones and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Jaffrey's initial career aspiration was to become a Royal Air Force pilot and he passed the entrance exams for it and went on to study English and Drama at Manchester University with the intention of gaining a degree to join officer training. However while at university, he became interested in acting and joined the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School after graduation. He won rave reviews for his performance, with the BBC hailing him as "the most exciting new leading man to emerge in a London musical since Hugh Jackman became an overnight star in the National Theatre production of Oklahoma".

After leaving Bombay Dreams he appeared in ITV1's M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, the HBO/BBC co-production Dirty War, and the three-part BBC drama Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee. In 2005, he began work on the BBC One spy drama series Spooks as agent Zafar Younis. During that time, he returned to the stage, playing Orsino in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Albery Theatre, London, and was cast in the David Cronenberg film Eastern Promises.

Jaffrey left Spooks to join the BBC One drama series Mistresses and went on to star in Sharpe's Peril and the films Infinite Justice, for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Kara Film Festival, The Crew, and Harry Brown. In 2010, he appeared in Sex and the City 2 as Gaurav. He then went on to star as cheating boyfriend Mike in the BBC1 comedy Accidental Farmer.

In 2011, he appeared as the French supervillain Cain on the NBC superhero drama The Cape before working for NBC again on the Steven Spielberg–produced drama Smash, airing in early 2012. In Smash, he played Dev, the English boyfriend of a rising Broadway star, working as a press officer in the New York Mayor's office. He did not return to the show for its second season. In 2019, Jaffrey played Ottoman Janissary Captain Sunal Demir in the historical romance drama film, Cliffs of Freedom.

Jaffrey still continues to sing and has performed in several concert productions, including singing at the London Palladium with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the BBC Concert Orchestra for BBC Radio 2. He was also the creator and co-producer of the dance show RED, a celebration of dozens of styles of movement and dance, brought together by their influences on and from India. He took the show to Johannesburg's Nelson Mandela Theatre. He played the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago at the Garrick Theatre in London.

Personal life Jaffrey married actress Miranda Raison in 2007. They divorced two years later. In 2012, Jaffrey began a relationship with actress Lara Pulver. The couple married two years later. The couple has a son and daughter.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role 2004 Dirty War Rashid Dhar 2006 Infinite Justice Kamal Khan 2007 Eastern Promises Doctor Aziz 2008 The Crew Keith Thompson 2009 Harry Brown Father Bracken 2010 Sex and the City 2 Butler Gaurau 2016 The Rendezvous Jake Al-Shadi 2019 Cliffs of Freedom Sunal Demir 2020 The Rhythm Section Proctor 2021 Sweet Girl Vinod Shah2025 Goodbye June Dr. Simon Khal

Television Year Title Role Notes 1998 Picking Up the Pieces Frank 1999 EastEnders Mr Datani 2002 Casualty Hakkan Tahsin 2004–2007 Spooks Zafar Younis 23 episodes 2005 Murder Investigation Team Kareem Dobar Episode: "Phone Tag" 2005 Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee Krishan 2008 Sharpe's Peril Lance Naik Singh 2008–2009 Mistresses Hari 12 episodes 2011 The Cape Cain / Raimonde LeFleur Episode: "Tarot" 2012 Smash Dev Sundaram Season 1 2014 Death in Paradise Adam Frost Series 3: Episode 4 2014 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Taj 3 episodes 2014 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Defense Lawyer Episode: "Spring Awakening" 2014–2015 Elementary Andrew Mittal 4 episodes; Recurring role 2014 Homeland Aasar Khan 7 episodes; Recurring role 2015 Code Black Neal Hudson Main role 2017 Adventure Time Danny Episode: "Ring of Fire" 2018–2021 Lost in Space Victor Dhar Recurring role (15 episodes) 2019 The Enemy Within Daniel Zain Main role 2022–2024 The Serpent Queen Francis, Duke of Guise Main role 2022 Pantheon Vinod Chanda (voice) 8 episodes 2023 Maternal Jack Oliviera ITV drama 2025 Malice Damien Amazon Prime 2026–present The Agency Craig Recurring role; 9 episodes

Radio Year Title Role Notes 2008 Double Science Danny Woods, Anish