Shohreh Aghdashloo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shohreh Aghdashloo
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شهره آغداشلو | |
![]() Aghdashloo at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019
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Born |
Vaziri-Tabar
May 11, 1952 Tehran, Pahlavi Iran
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Nationality | Iranian American |
Citizenship |
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Alma mater | Brunel University |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1976–present |
Spouse(s) | |
Children | 1 |
Shohreh Aghdashloo (Persian: شهره آغداشلو, pronounced [ʃohˈɾe ɒɢdɒʃˈluː]) is an actress from Iran and America. She was born Vaziri-Tabar on May 11, 1952. Shohreh has won many awards for her acting. These include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Satellite Award. She was also nominated for an Academy Award.
Shohreh started her acting career on stage. She then made her first movie, Chess of the Wind, in 1976. Her next two films, The Report (1977) and Sooteh Delan (1977), were highly praised. These movies made her one of Iran's top actresses. However, the films were not allowed to be shown in Iran.
During the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Shohreh moved to England. Later, she moved to the United States and became a U.S. citizen. For several years, she had small roles in TV shows and movies. But her role in House of Sand and Fog (2003) changed everything. This movie earned her many awards from film critics. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Shohreh has appeared in many other films. These include The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and The Nativity Story (2006). She also acted in The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016).
On television, she is well-known for playing Dina Araz in the fourth season of 24. She also played Chrisjen Avasarala on The Expanse from 2015 to 2022. For her role as Sajida Talfah in the HBO miniseries House of Saddam (2008), she won a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, she wrote her autobiography called The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines. In 2021, she voiced Grayson in the Netflix series Arcane. In 2024, Shohreh voiced the dragon in the Netflix movie Damsel. She also voices Roshan in the video game Assassin's Creed Mirage.
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Early Life and Education
Shohreh Aghdashloo studied international relations at Brunel University. She chose this subject because she was interested in politics. This interest grew after she had to leave her home country. She knew England well because her parents had taken her to London when she was a child.
After her studies, she continued her acting career. This led her to Los Angeles. She has performed in many plays written by her husband, Houshang Touzie. These plays have been successful both in the U.S. and internationally. They are especially popular among Iranians living outside Iran. Shohreh was born into a Muslim family, but she has said that she does not practice the religion.
Acting Career Highlights
Shohreh Aghdashloo began acting in theater at age 19. Her first play was The Narrow Road to the Deep North in 1973. Her first American movie role was in Guests of Hotel Astoria in 1989. She made her TV debut on September 25, 1990. This was a guest role in the NBC series Matlock.
In 2001, Shohreh was cast in the movie House of Sand and Fog (2003). She acted alongside Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. For this role, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. After this, she got a big role in Season 4 of the Fox TV series 24. She played Dina Araz, a secret terrorist living in Los Angeles.
Shohreh told Time magazine that she usually avoided roles that made Muslims look like terrorists. However, she felt this role was strong and complex, so she accepted it. After 24, Shohreh appeared on many popular TV shows. These included Will & Grace, ER, and Grey's Anatomy. She also had supporting roles in movies like X-Men: The Last Stand as Dr. Kavita Rao. Other films included The Lake House, The Nativity Story as Elizabeth, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
In 2008, Shohreh was a judge at the Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles. That same year, she played the main character, Zahra Khanum, in The Stoning of Soraya M.. This was her first main role in an American movie. She also played Sajida Talfah in the HBO miniseries House of Saddam. For this role, she won a Primetime Emmy Award.
Shohreh has continued to act in films. These include The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Septembers of Shiraz, and Star Trek Beyond. She has also appeared on TV shows like House, M.D., The Simpsons, Grimm, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and NCIS. She has voiced characters in video games like Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, Destiny, Destiny 2, and Assassin's Creed Mirage. She also performed in the play The House of Bernarda Alba in London. She narrated the audiobook And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.
From 2015 to 2022, Shohreh Aghdashloo starred in the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse. She played Chrisjen Avasarala, a powerful politician in the UN. In 2025, she portrayed Elaida a'Roihan in the third season of the Amazon series The Wheel of Time.
Film Appearances
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1976 | The Chess Game of the Wind | Lady’s Maid | First film role in Iran |
1977 | The Report | Azam Firuzkui | |
1978 | Sooteh-Delan | Aghdas | |
1989 | Guests of Hotel Astoria | Mrs. Pori Karemnia | First American film role |
1991 | Raha | Raha | |
1993 | Twenty Bucks | Ghada Holiday | |
2000 | Surviving Paradise | Pari | First English language Iranian-American film |
2001 | America So Beautiful | Exiled Actress | |
2002 | Maryam | Mrs. Homa Armin | |
2003 | Possessed | Woman | Short film |
Pulse | Woman | Short film | |
Mystic Iran | Narrator | Documentary film | |
House of Sand and Fog | Nadereh 'Nadi' Behrani | Won several awards; Nominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress | |
2005 | The Exorcism of Emily Rose | Dr. Sadira Adani | |
Babak and Friends – A First Norooz | Farah | Animated film | |
2006 | American Dreamz | Mrs. Nazneen Riza | |
The Lake House | Dr. Anna Klyczynski | ||
X-Men: The Last Stand | Dr. Kavita Rao | ||
The Nativity Story | Elizabeth | ||
2008 | The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 | Professor Nasrin Mehani | |
The Stoning of Soraya M. | Zahra Khanum | Won Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture | |
2010 | The Adjustment Bureau | The Chairman | Scenes deleted |
The No Game | Aunt Laila | ||
2011 | Iranium | Narrator | Documentary film |
On the Inside | Dr. Lofton | ||
2012 | The Odd Life of Timothy Green | Evette Onat | |
2013 | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | The Oracle | Voice role |
Silk | Rani | Short film | |
2014 | Rosewater | Moloojoon | |
Still Here | Farzaneh | Short film | |
2015 | Last Knights | Maria | |
Septembers of Shiraz | Habibeh | ||
2016 | Star Trek Beyond | Commodore Paris | |
Window Horses | Mehrnaz | Animated film | |
The Promise | Marta Boghosian | ||
2018 | A Simple Wedding | Ziba Husseini | Also executive producer |
2019 | The Cuban | Bano Ayoub | |
2020 | Run Sweetheart Run | “First Lady” Dinah | |
2021 | Ghostbusters: Afterlife | Gozer the Gozerian | Voice role |
2023 | Renfield | Bellafrancesca Lobo | |
2024 | Damsel | Dragon (voice) | |
Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps | The Wise Woman | ||
TBA | The Alchemist | Post-production |
Television Roles
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1990 | Matlock | Saleslady | Episode: "Nowhere to Turn" |
1993 | Martin | Malika | Episode: "Jerome's in the House" |
1994 | The Bold & The Beautiful | Greesa Abineer | Episode #1865 |
2001 | The Honduran Suburbs | Zereshk | 2 episodes |
2004 | The Secret Service | Lila Ravan | Television film |
2005 | 24 | Dina Araz | 12 episodes: Day 4 Won Gold Derby TV Award |
2006 | Smith | Charlie | 7 episodes |
Will & Grace | Pam | Episode: "Cowboys and Iranians" | |
Curious George | Hat Salesperson | Episode: "The Clean, Perfect Yellow Hat" | |
ER | Mrs. Riza Kardatay | Episode: "Lost in America" | |
2007 | Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Helen Crawford | Episode: "Scars and Souvenirs" |
2008 | House of Saddam | Sajida Talfah | 4 episodes Won Primetime Emmy Award |
The Simpsons | Mina | Voice, episode: "MyPods and Boomsticks" | |
2009 | FlashForward | Nhadra Udaya | 3 episodes |
2011 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Detective Saliyah "Sunny" Qadri | Episode: "Dirty" |
House | Afsoun Hamidi | Episode: "Moving On" | |
NCIS | Mariam Bawali | Episode: "Safe Harbor" | |
2012 | Portlandia | Nelofar Jamshidi | Episode: "Cool Wedding" |
The Mob Doctor | Dr. Lauren Baylor | 3 episodes | |
2013 | Grimm | Stefania Vaduva Popescu | 7 episodes |
2014 | Believe | Mrs. Delkash | Episode: "Origin" |
Bones | Azita Vaziri | Episode: "The Cold in the Case" | |
Scorpion | Dr. Cassandra Davis | Episode: "True Colors" | |
2015 | Elementary | Donya Esfandiari | Episode: "Tag, You're Me" |
2015–2022 | The Expanse | Chrisjen Avasarala | Main role for 6 seasons |
2016 | Pearl | Arlene | TV film |
2017 | The Punisher | Farah Madani | 4 episodes |
2019 | The Lion Guard | Queen Janna | Voice, 4 episodes |
Impulse | Fatima | 3 episodes | |
2021 | Arcane | Enforcer Grayson | Voice, 4 episodes |
The Expanse: One Ship | Chrisjen Avasarala | Webisodes; 1 episode | |
2022 | The Flight Attendant | Brenda | 5 episodes |
Archer | ClandestiCon Host | Voice, episode: "The Big Con" | |
2023 | Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight | Forouzan | Voice, 13 episodes |
Mrs. Davis | Virgin Mary | Episode: "Great Gatsby 2001: A Space Odyssey" | |
2024 | Chad | Zahra | Episode: "Maman Bozorg" |
WondLa | Darius | Voice, episode: "Chapter 4: Ghosts" | |
The Penguin | Nadia Maroni | Miniseries | |
2025 | The Wheel of Time | Elaida a'Roihan | Season 3 |
Creature Commandos | Madam Gyurov | Voice role, episode 6 "Priyatel Skelet" |
Video Game Voice Roles
Year | Game | Voice role | Notes |
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2010 | Mass Effect 2 | Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay | |
2012 | Mass Effect 3 | ||
2014 | Destiny | Lakshmi-2/Maya Sundaresh | |
2017-2024 | Destiny 2 | ||
2022 | The Tale of Bistun | Narrator | |
Assassin's Creed Valhalla | Roshan bint-La'Ahad | "Shared History" DLC | |
2023 | Assassin's Creed Mirage | ||
The Expanse: A Telltale Series | Chrisjen Avasarala | ||
2024 | Ara: History Untold | Narrator |
Audio Works
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2004 | Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia | Narrator | Audiobook |
2007 | The Blood of Flowers | Narrator | Audiobook |
2008 | The Bible of Clay | Narrator | Audiobook |
And the Mountains Echoed | Narrator | Audiobook | |
2016 | Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran | Narrator | Audiobook |
2019–2020 | The Two Princes | Queen Attosa | Audio drama |
Theatre Performances
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1973 | A Narrow Road to the Deep North | Empress Jun | Edward Bond play |
1975 | Madame de Sade | Reneé Marquise de Sade | Yukio Mishima play |
2012 | The House of Bernarda Alba | Bernarda Alba | Federico Garcia Lorca play |
2024 | What Became of Us | Q | Shayan Lotfi play |
Other Awards and Recognition
- 2007: Arpa Career Achievement Award
- 2013: Noor Iranian Film Festival Achievement Award
Personal Life
In 1987, Shohreh Aghdashloo married actor and playwright Houshang Touzie. They have one daughter, Tara Touzie, who was born in 1989.
See also
In Spanish: Shohreh Aghdashloo para niños
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of Iranian actresses
- List of Iranian women