In 1965, Davood directed and coached Reza in his first role in a play titled Az Paa Nayoftadeha, written by Gholam-Hossein Sa'edi.

Later on in life, he took the stage in renditions of plays such as Antigone, Petty Bourgeois, Simon Masha Figures, Mississippi's Marriage, Souvenir of the Sand Years and many more.

In April 2010, after a six-year hiatus from theater, Kianian returned to stage under the direction of Atila Pesyani in Professor Bvbvs.

Perhaps his most memorable role in television has been his character 'Jamshid' in Shellike Nahayi (The Final Shot) directed by Mohsen Shahmohammadi, where 'Jamshid-style' outfits and hairstyle became popular with the youth of Iran.

His set design for the movie Niloofar-e Abi[1] (The Lotus) won him an industry award at the 17th Fajr International Film Festival in 1998.