Faran Haroon Tahir was born on 16 February 1964 in Los Angeles to Naeem Tahir and Yasmeen Tahir. He grew up in Pakistan and returned to the United States in 1980. He has attended University of California Berkeley and Harvard University where he studied theatre.
He made his film debut playing Nathoo in the Disney's 1994 live-action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He has since appeared in such films as Picture Perfect (1997), Anywhere But Here (1999) and Charlie Wilson's War (2007). He also played the male lead in the 1999 independent film ABCD. In 2008, Tahir played the role of the villain Raza in the Marvel Comics-based Iron Man. He played Starfleet Captain Richard Robau in the 2009 film Star Trek. In 2013, Tahir played President Patel in the science-fiction film Elysium.
Tahir has guest starred on many television series, including Alias, The Practice, Family Law, The Agency, NYPD Blue, Lost, 7th Heaven, The West Wing, Walker, Texas Ranger, The D.A., 24, Monk, Justice, Cold Case, Chuck, Hawaii Five-0 and Warehouse 13. He also co-starred with Robert Beltran and Chase Masterson in the 2005 Sci-Fi Channel original movie Manticore. He also starred in the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy as Isaac and appeared on the CW series Supernatural as the Egyptian god Osiris in the seventh season's episode "Defending Your Life". Tahir starred in the ghost horror film Jinn. The role of Frank, Cliff Barnes' right-hand man in the reboot of Dallas. In 2015 Tahir appeared in a recurring role as the Commander on Supergirl.
In 2016 Tahir joined American Crime as Rhys Bashir, and was cast as Captain Nemo on Once Upon a Time In 2017, Tahir played the role of Mallick in Syfy's TV show, 12 Monkeys.
