Raza Jaffrey

Born in Liverpool but raised in the London area, actor Raza Jaffrey was drawn toward the stage after graduating from Manchester University. After some work in the theater and guest spots on TV series such as "Picking up the Pieces" and "EastEnders," his first big role came in 2001, when he landed a co-starring spot in the musical "Mamma Mia!" on the London stage. Next Jaffrey won rave notices for his role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Bombay Dreams," which he followed up with more TV work in "Murder Investigation Team" and "Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee," and a choice role in the feature thriller "Infinite Justice."

In 2005, Jaffrey began portraying Zafar Younis on the popular BBC espionage drama "MI-5," where he got the chance to work alongside his former classmate Rupert Penry-Jones and met the woman he would marry, actress Miranda Raison. When the actor left the show in 2007, he garnered positive reviews for his performance in the crime drama "Eastern Promises" before moving on to the series "Mistresses" and more feature roles in "The Bounty Hunter" and "Sex and the City 2." 2012 was the year the British actor finally became a well-known face in the U.S. when he joined the cast of the NBC musical drama "Smash."