Adrian Pasdar was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but at the age of 2, his father, a prominent heart surgeon, moved the family to Powelton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. In high school, he excelled at football, eventually leading to a football scholarship at the University of Florida in 1983. Football may have been a promising future, had it not been for a terrible accident during his freshman year that left his face scarred and his legs badly injured. A very driven Adrian finished his freshman year in a wheelchair, doing intensive physical therapy and turning his attention to campus stage productions and redicovering a childhood interest in writing and acting. No longer able to play football, he dropped out of school and returned home, taking a job with a theater group People's Light and Theatre Company. Here he worked on sound and lighting and also did set construction. One day, while constructing a set, he cut off the end of his left thumb. Adrian, having the ability to turn tragedy into triumph, used his medical compensation to pay for attendance at the famous "Lee Strasberg Theater Institute". At the age of 19, he auditioned for a role in Top Gun. Director Tony Scott was so impressed that he wrote the part of "Chipper" just for him. This led to bigger roles in Solarbabies, Streets of Gold, and Kathryn Bigelow's 1987 cult vampire movie Near Dark, with Adrian in the lead role of Caleb Colton. Other major roles include Vital Signs. Adrian has always been an actor ahead of his time, opting for roles in independent and cable movies long before they were considered fashionable for feature actors to do. In 1992, feeling completely out-of-touch with reality, Adrian left Hollywood and returned to New York. He worked as a cashier for room and board, while taking the occasional small part, such as Frankie in 'Brian De Palma''s Carlito's Way. Another major break came in 1995, when Adrian was cast as the title character on the short-lived Fox series _Profit (1996)_. He continues to act in supporting roles and has now added directing to his already impressive body of work. He wrote and directed the short film Beyond Belief and also directed a feature film Cement.


Married Natalie Maines (of the country music group Dixie Chicks) on the weekend of June 24-25, 2000. They were married in Las Vegas's Little White Wedding Chapel, in a $55 no-frills ceremony officiated by the chapel's Pastor Ann. The couple first met in May 1999, at the wedding of band member Emily Robison and singer-songwriter Charlie Robison. Graduated class of 1983 from Marple Newtown High School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Went to the University of Florida on a football scholarship, but his football career ended due to serious injuries when he flipped his Jeep while driving in Miami. Studied at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. Worked at his father's friend's diner, the Vandam Diner, in lower East Manhattan. Has a tattoo of the Chinese character for strength that he got while filming Shang Hai yi jiu er ling (1991). His screen writing and directorial debut was an unreleased short film called Beyond Belief (1995), which debuted at the East Hamptons Film Festival in October of 1995. It won the finalist award at the Houston Film Festival in June 1996. He is of Iranian and German heritage respectively on his father's and mother's sides of the family. Father is Homayoon Pasdar, who was born in Iran and worked as a surgeon near Philadelphia. His mother, Rosemarie Pasdar (nee Rosemarie Sbresny) was was born in Königsberg, Germany. She worked as a nurse and then became an English teacher in France. She owns a successful travel agency. Younger sister, Anamarie Pasdar, worked as an artistic director/associate producer for the SoHo Rep Theater Company in New York City. His hobbies include skydiving, riding a Harley and playing chess. Directed the feature film Cement (2000) in which one of the characters - played by Gregory Jbara - watches an episode of the cult TV series "Profit" (1996), whose Pasdar was the lead actor. Close friend of "Heroes" (2006/II) co-star Milo Ventimiglia.