On 17th December 1972, John Abraham was born into a mix of cultures. His dad is a Christian from Alwaye, Kerala and his mother is a Parsi. Being a Catholic his father added the name 'Abraham' to his son John as a mark of respect to the first patriarch and progenitor of the Hebrew people in the Bible. Abraham's father is a Malayali Saint Thomas Christian architect, from Alwaye, Kerala in India. While his mother Phiroza Irani is part of Bombay's Parsi community. Irani are descended from Iranian Zoroastrians who migrated to Mumbai in the late 19th and early 20th century. John sometimes describes himself as part-Malyalee and sometimes as part-Iranian. He is one of the most successful male models in India, he won the Gladrags Manhunt in 1999 and made his Bollywood debut with Jism at age 30 with now girlfriend Bipasha Basu.

Though quite an unconventional debut, his film career since then has been filled with unconventional roles. In fact, his 'conventional' films haven't been big hits. John came into his own with Dhoom in 2004 where he played the role of anti-hero. In 2005, he decided to work in the highly controversial, Water.

Films and modelling apart, John Abraham is known to be an avid biker, a devoted vegetarian and a star who contributes to various environmental causes.

On 5th June 2008, he was awarded as 'eco-warrior' by Vice-President of India for his work. He, along with others, had taken up the cause of elephants by urging all states to ban the entry of the animal into urban areas.