Navíd Akhavan was born June 9, 1980, in Tehran, Iran. When he was four years old, his family fled to the USA and then went to Germany because of the Iran-Iraq War. As his father worked as a concert promoter, Akhavan gained stage experience already at an early age. He made numerous performances as a dancer and musician as opening act for smaller concerts all over Europe until he was 16 years old.

Between 1999 and 2002, Akhavan attended drama school at Zentrum für Schauspiel in Cologne. He subsequently starred in several theatre, TV, and movie productions, including "Aram" ("My Mother", 2001), directed by Buket Alakus. In 2003, Akhavan was nominated for "Förderpreis Deutscher Film" for his first leading role in Elmar Fischer"s award-winning film "Fremder Freund" ("The Friend"). In 2009, he starred alongside Anna Böger in "Salami Aleikum" and played a German-Iranian butcher"s son who indulges in his passion for knitting and finds the woman of his dreams in an East German city.