Shohreh Aghdashloo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shohreh Aghdashloo
شهره آغداشلو
Aghdashloo at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019
Born	Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar (1952-05-11) May 11, 1952 (age 73) Tehran, Pahlavi Iran
Nationality	Iranian American
Citizenship	Iran United States
Alma mater	Brunel University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Aydin Aghdashloo ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1979)​ Houshang Touzie ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	1

Shohreh Aghdashloo (Persian: شهره آغداشلو, born May 11, 1952) is a famous actress from Iran and the United States. She 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. Her first movie was 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 the top actresses in Iran. However, the films were not allowed to be shown in Iran.

In 1979, Shohreh moved to England during the Iranian Revolution. Later, she moved to the United States and became a U.S. citizen. After playing small roles for several years, her performance in House of Sand and Fog (2003) brought her a lot of attention. She won several awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared in movies like The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), 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 (2015–2022). For her role as Sajida Talfah in the HBO miniseries House of Saddam (2008), she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. In 2013, she wrote her autobiography called The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines. More recently, she voiced Grayson in the Netflix series Arcane (2021) and the dragon in the 2024 Netflix film Damsel. She also voices Roshan in the video game Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Early Life and Education

Shohreh Aghdashloo was born Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar in Tehran, Iran. Her parents are Effie and Anushiravan Vaziri-Tabar. She has three brothers named Shahram, Shahriar, and Shahrokh. Her stage name, Aghdashloo, comes from her first husband's family name. He was a painter named Aydin Aghdashloo.

She married Aydin in 1972 when she was 19. She started taking theater classes, even though her family did not want her to. Shohreh had always dreamed of being an actress. Soon, she was playing main roles in Iranian plays and movies. She and Aydin did not have children. They divorced in 1979, when she left Iran for England at the start of the Iranian Revolution.

When Shohreh arrived in England, she studied international relations at Brunel University. She was interested in politics after having to leave her home country. She already knew England because her parents had taken her to London as a child. After her studies, she continued her acting career, which led her to Los Angeles. She has performed in many plays written by her second husband, Houshang Touzie. These plays have been shown in many countries, especially for 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

Aghdashloo in 2008

Shohreh Aghdashloo started acting in theater at age 19. Her first big role was in a play called The Narrow Road to the Deep North (1973). She made her first American movie appearance in 1989 in Guests of Hotel Astoria. Her first TV role was in 1990, in an episode of the NBC series Matlock. For several years, Shohreh appeared in movies and TV shows now and then.

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 character who was secretly involved in a group planning attacks, pretending to be a regular housewife and mother in Los Angeles. Shohreh told Time magazine that she usually avoided roles that made people from the Middle East seem like bad guys. However, she felt this role was strong and complex, so she accepted it.

After 24, Shohreh appeared as a guest star on several popular TV shows. These included Will & Grace, ER, and Grey's Anatomy. She also played supporting roles in movies like X-Men: The Last Stand as Dr. Kavita Rao, The Lake House, and The Nativity Story as Elizabeth.

In 2008, Shohreh was a judge at the second annual Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles. That same year, she played the main character, Zahra Khanum, in the film The Stoning of Soraya M.. This was her first main role in an American movie. Also in 2008, she played Sajida Talfah in the HBO miniseries House of Saddam. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for this role.

Shohreh continues to act in movies like The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Star Trek Beyond. She also appears on TV shows like House, M.D., The Simpsons, and NCIS. She has voiced characters for video games such as Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed Mirage. She also performed in the play The House of Bernarda Alba in London and narrated the audiobook And the Mountains Echoed.

From 2015 to 2022, Shohreh Aghdashloo starred in the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse. She played Chrisjen Avasarala, a smart and powerful leader in Earth's government. In 2025, she will play Elaida a'Roihan in season three of the Amazon series The Wheel of Time.

Film Appearances

Television Roles

Video Game Voice Roles

Audio Work

Theatre Performances

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 together, Tara Touzie, who was born in 1989.

See also

In Spanish: Shohreh Aghdashloo para niños

• Mina Assadi
• Simin Behbahani
• Forugh Farrokhzad
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of Iranian actresses
• List of Iranian women
• Women in Iran