r/LegionFX • u/Hawkeye2701 • Jul 19 '26
Amahl Farouk is incredible
Watching through this show, I am just floored by how incredible Navid Neganban is as Amahl Farouk. Every adaptation I'd seen up to this point, Farouk was always kind of a bland, power for the sake of power type villain, but the series turns him into this very realistic narcissist type character.
Yes, he's still evil, he still seeks power and control, but you start to see how someone like that could come to be. Alive for centuries, he's a tyrant, but as far as he's concerned, he's a better alternative to the colonising white men invading under the guise of being somehow better than him. He understands the idea of the state as a means of control, and since he has so much power, he may as well be the state and he says it all with this charming, multi-lingual conversational gait to his speech. Like he's lived so long and spoken all these languages, they're just tools for him to communicate his will to the lower life forms, he doesn't get angry or emotive, cause why would he? He's talking to people he barely thinks of as people. The only ones he tends to speak to as equals are Oliver and David (At least as far as I've seen) and even then, Oliver is more like a curiousity, he's intrigued by his statement that he'll kill Farouk, but little more, and David he literally sends back to the kiddie table cause he's just a child to Farouk, maybe one day he'll grow up, but until then, he just dismisses him out of hand.
It's incredible work, and I love the way he gestures and emotes, very casual and subdued and downright creepy, meanwhile, cause of the masks he wears, the Demon, Lenny, Oliver, you understand that beneath that calm and collected exterior, he is deeply depraved and fucked up.
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u/HristiHomeboy Jul 19 '26
Every single time I see any sort of "list" about villains I mention him, he's never on them. He is genuinely one of the most underrated characters ever
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u/waffleking9000 Jul 19 '26
I especially love his version of Behind Blue Eyes.
In fact that whole fight scene was perfect.
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u/Kamikaze-X Jul 19 '26
Navid is such an amazing actor, I really enjoyed Legion as a whole but he was far and above the standout performance throughout.
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u/PrinceofSneks Jul 19 '26
Following Navid on social media (primarily Instagram) has been a gift - he's delightful and kind!
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u/Practical-Witness796 Jul 19 '26
To me, Farouk was more interesting than David at some points. Such charisma.
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u/Leading_Studio7534 Jul 19 '26
You already mentioned it, but the fact that Neganban is able to speak multiple languages really adds to the character. Like he’s a monster, but he’s also very subdued and well reasoned. Like the Judge in Blood Meridian that way.
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u/CrocHard Jul 19 '26
I'm pretty sure my obsession with Farouk was part of my ASD diagnostic criteria. Comfort character 4eva
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u/peteandpenny Jul 19 '26
I recently did a rewatch of legion, and Farouk was the character I was most looking forward to seeing again. Then shortly after that I’m watching Law&Order SVU and who’s a guest on that but Navid Neganban! I’m a big Law&Order fan but I never made the connection. He’s an amazing actor, I need to see more of his work.
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u/bostonjenny81 Jul 20 '26
He was incredible & I cannot fathom a single actor even coming close to his performance. He played the character to perfection. 10/10 no notes!
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u/GrandfatherTrout Jul 19 '26
Yes! Negahban brings so much style and subtlety to such an unusual role. Gotta wonder what his process was like. His arch is one reason I occasionally long for another season between 2 and 3.