Kahan James

Kahan James was born on July 24, 1973, in Houston, Texas. His mother is Kathleen James from Oakland, California, and his father is Kamran Behbehani from Tehran, Iran. Kahan was raised by his mother, who was an art dealer in Houston from the late 1970's through the turn of the millennium. He grew up accompanying her on visits to artists' studios and installing and lighting gallery exhibits and corporate collections. Encouraged by his mother to study the works of artists like Pink Floyd, Stanley Kubrick, and David Mamet, Kahan became interested in language, music, and conceptual art. After briefly pursuing a career in music, Kahan entered the linguistics department at UC Berkeley, where he studied philosophy and communication with George Lakoff, John Searle and John McWhorter. He took an acting class, went on to perform in several productions, and his peers and mentors urged him to pursue acting professionally. After he was requested to audition at Berkeley Repertory Theater, he complet