Toub Throws a ‘Toup’: Actor Delivers Ceremonial 1st Pitch at Dodgers Game

Prominent Iranian-American actor Shaun Toub (Crash, Iron Man) took another step towards carving himself a place among the Hollywood elite when he was invited to throw out the first pitch of a Major League Baseball Game between the host Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros on May 17th.

For those unnfamiliar with the significance of such an honor, the throwing of the ceremonial “first ball” is a longstanding baseball tradition usually accorded to a notable person in the home team’s city or state, and sometimes, a national figure such as an actor or the U.S. President, Vice President or other dignitary. Notable figures who preceded Toub include fellow actor Matthew McConaughey, who exhibited his pitching prowess at a Dodgers game last season.

The honor sparks a promising summer for Toub, who will return to the big screen this July as General Iroh in the Hollywood live-action film adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon animated television series, The Last Airbender. Written and directed by famed Indian-American filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), Airbender also stars Dev Patel, best known for his role as the male lead character Jamal Malik in the multiple Academy Award-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire.

The movie also features a bit of Iranian synergy in the form of controversy, as it is the second movie released by Hollywood studios in a span of two months which has been plagued by accusations of “white-washing,” as producers cast white actors to play the roles of characters which are in earnest, people of color. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, a Swedish-American actor, plays the role of Persian prince Dastan in Prince of Persia, and the majority of the principal roles went to relatively unknown British actors, who were made up to look Persian. The case of Airbender is seemingly more ignominious, as white actors were chosen to play the East Asian characters.

Check out Toub on Facebook.

Check out this Airbender teaser that recently ran as a commercial on the hit TV series, Glee: