Ardalan Esmaili

Ardalan Esmaili (born 22 March 1986) is an Iranian-born Swedish actor. Esmaili was born in Tehran, Iran, to an architect father and a teacher mother. Toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War, when Esmaili was two years old, his family moved to Sweden. Esmaili stated, "My parents were afraid that my older brother might eventually be drafted into the military. They saw no future for the children in Iran." The family originally planned to move to the United States, but instead settled in Skellefteå, where Esmaili would grow up.

Esmaili attended junior high school in Malå. While attending high school at Fridhems Folkhögskola in Svalöv, he held an internship at Film i Västerbotten with Milad Alami, a family friend. After high school, he attended the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting.

In addition to Swedish, he speaks Persian, English, and Danish. He is in a long-term relationship with actress Evin Ahmad.