Shakespeare has always coincidentally aligned with Kamran’s life—and they say there are no coincidences. So, he’s followed that sign wherever it’s taken him. Born on April 23rd, 1994, to Mary and Bigan Saliani, Kamran somehow shared a cosmic connection with the Bard himself, who was also born in April… the 23rd… in 1564. From the beginning, storytelling was in his blood. He entered the world at 11:30 PM on a Saturday night at Albert Einstein Hospital in the Bronx—cementing, from his literal birth, a poetic kinship with Shakespeare.
His father, Bigan—a filmmaker who immigrated from Iran—would tell him stories of the Persian hero Rostam, filling Kamran’s imagination with the romance of his father’s homeland. His mother, Mary, who worked in film and broadcasting, read Harry Potter to him every night before bed. Needless to say, stories were his lullabies. Kamran’s first taste of acting came as a freshman at Irvington High School, where he played Sam Warner in a play—coincidentally again—titled Shakespeare in Hollywood. Another sign. He was hooked. He went on to perform in numerous school musicals, playing Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie, the Narrator in Into the Woods, and Kenickie in Grease. He was head over heels in love with acting and knew it was his life’s mission.
After a grueling college audition process, Kamran was accepted into NYU Tisch School of the Arts and received his B.F.A. in Acting in 2016. He trained at the Stella Adler Studio—whose foundation, of course, is Shakespeare. At NYU, most students are cast in just one lead role during their time there. Kamran was cast in four, including Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Bertolt Brecht in The Story of Black Marie, and a spy in Wilderness of Mirrors. But the role that changed everything was Pericles, Prince of Tyre. It’s one of Shakespeare’s least-known plays, and Kamran was honored to bring to life Shakespeare’s only Middle Eastern protagonist (Pericles is of modern-day Lebanese descent). As an Iranian-American actor, that meant the world to him.
Fast forward to March 2020. COVID changed the world. In that moment of chaos and pause, Kamran realized life is too short not to go after what you love. So, he started a Shakespeare company. With the support of the Mayor of Irvington, NY at the time, Brian C. Smith—who just happened to have a Tony Award for producing Once on This Island and is, as Kamran likes to say, “a really nice guy”—he launched the Irvington Shakespeare Company with Twelfth Night in the summer of 2021. Kamran played Malvolio. It was thrilling. And exhausting. Afterward, he took a short break to rest and regroup.
While on vacation, he started looking for a low-budget Shakespeare piece to bridge the gap between summer seasons. Like any millennial would… he went to YouTube. He typed in: “One-man Shakespeare plays.” Hit enter. And then—boom—there it was: a blurry thumbnail of a young Sir Ian McKellen. The title: Acting Shakespeare. Kamran clicked. Ninety minutes later, his life had changed. The one-man show, in which McKellen talks about his life through the lens of Shakespeare, was the most powerful theatrical experience Kamran had ever witnessed. He was in love. He had to do it. It required just a few lights and a chair—simple. Kamran started researching how to get the rights. But no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find anything. He searched every database, every archive. Nothing. So he reached out to his former NYU director, Caroline Wood, and told her how much this show meant to him. She mentioned her husband—playwright Bruce Norris—might know someone in the London theatre world who could help. Kamran thanked her, crossed his fingers, and waited. Weeks passed. Then months. He started to let the dream go. Until Tuesday, February 8th, 2022. At 1:04pm, he got an email from Caroline. The message said: "I'd say you're good to go. :)"
Attached was a long email chain between Caroline, Bruce, and some very official-sounding people. And at the very bottom… was a message. From Sir Ian McKellen himself:
“I prefer small potatoes to large ones and I’d be very happy for Kamran Saliani to revive Acting Shakespeare for no charge. Please pass on my e-mail to him, in case I can help.”
And just like that… Kamran’s big break. Since that moment, he’s been on a mission to revive Acting Shakespeare, and to share its power, its message, and its magic with the world.
