Near the end of “Argo” — Ben Affleck’s new docudrama thriller — an Iranian soldier pursues a handful of escaping American diplomats who have been hiding in the Canadian ambassador’s residence during the 1979 hostage crisis. The scene is a chair-gripper, and you’ll likely find yourself cursing the soldier while rooting for the fleeing hostages.

That gung-ho guard is played by Brandon Tabassi, a polite young man who grew up in North Andover acting in school plays and now has a small but significant role in the hit film. A Persian soldier, he screams in Farsi, knocking people out of the way at the Tehran airport as the escapees race to catch a flight out of the country. The entire cast of “Argo” recently won the ensemble acting prize at the Hollywood Film Awards, which kick off the Oscar season.