Kahan James

Kahan James was born on July 24, 1973, in Houston, Texas. His mother is Kathleen James from Oakland, California, and his father is Kamran Behbehani from Tehran, Iran. Kahan was raised by his mother, who was an art dealer in Houston from the late 1970's through the turn of the millennium. He grew up accompanying her on visits to artists' studios and installing and lighting gallery exhibits and corporate collections. Encouraged by his mother to study the works of artists like Pink Floyd, Stanley Kubrick, and David Mamet, Kahan became interested in language, music, and conceptual art. After briefly pursuing a career in music, Kahan entered the linguistics department at UC Berkeley, where he studied philosophy and communication with George Lakoff, John Searle and John McWhorter. He took an acting class, went on to perform in several productions, and his peers and mentors urged him to pursue acting professionally. After he was requested to audition at Berkeley Repertory Theater, he completed a degree in Dramatic Art and while still in school was performing professionally in local theaters as well as making the feature film Forever, which won the Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas, Texas, in 2001. Under the mentorship of Edward Albee, Kahan's two-act play The Standing Wave was entered into Stages Repertory Theater's Annual Festival Of New Plays in 2000, where it won an award and went on to receive an acclaimed production in Houston. In 2003 he assistant-directed the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' A Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, starring Ashley Judd, Ned Beatty, Jason Patric, and Margot Martindale, and directed by Tony- and British Academy Television Award-winner Anthony Page. Kahan has worked as an actor since 2000, living and working predominantly in New York City. In addition to his work in television, film and theater, he has performed extensively in sketch comedy on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. Kahan now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their cat.