Shohreh Aghdashloo

Shohreh Aghdashloo is an Iranian-American actress who has received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Satellite Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. ¹ She is best known internationally as Chrisjen Avasarala in The Expanse (2015–2022) and as Dina Araz in the fourth season of 24. ¹ The English article records that she was born to a Muslim family and has stated that she is non-practicing; no source names a school for her, so her data record leaves her faith as unknown. ^{1 2}

Aghdashloo was born Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar in Tehran on 11 May 1952; her stage name comes from the family name of her first husband, the painter Aydin Aghdashloo, whom she married in 1972. ^{1 2} She began working as a theatre actress at 19 and made her film debut in Chess of the Wind (1976); her next films, The Report (1977) and Sooteh Delan (1977), brought her critical acclaim and established her as one of Iran's leading actresses, although the films were banned in Iran itself. ¹ She left Iran for England during the Iranian Revolution in 1979, earned a bachelor's degree in international relations at Brunel University, and then continued to the United States, subsequently becoming a US citizen. ¹

Her American film debut came in Guests of Hotel Astoria (1989), followed by years of small television and film roles. ¹ Her performance in House of Sand and Fog (2003), opposite Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly, brought her several film critics' awards and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. ¹ Other film appearances followed, including The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand and The Nativity Story (both 2006), The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) and Star Trek Beyond (2016). ¹

In television she played Dina Araz in the fourth season of 24, and for her role as Sajida Talfah in the HBO miniseries House of Saddam (2008) she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. ¹ From 2015 to 2022 she starred in The Expanse as Chrisjen Avasarala, a senior United Nations official, and in 2025 she portrayed Elaida a'Roihan in the third season of The Wheel of Time. ¹ She has also voiced Admiral Shala'Raan in Mass Effect, Lakshmi-2 in Destiny, Grayson in Arcane (2021) and Roshan in Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023). ¹ In 2013 she released her autobiography, The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines. ¹

This section sets out positions as reported in the sources; it is not a verdict by the museum. Of her role in 24, the article records that in an interview with Time magazine Aghdashloo stated that although she had previously resisted reinforcing the stereotype of Muslims as terrorists, the strength and complexity of the role convinced her to accept it. ¹ In 2008 she played the lead, Zahra Khanum, in The Stoning of Soraya M., her first leading role in an American feature; film scholar Hamid Naficy criticised her role in the film as "discredit[ing] her vow not to play in films that stereotype Middle Easterners, including Iranians". ¹ In September 2009 she joined Azar Nafisi and Dwight Bashir at George Washington University to add her voice to those concerned about human rights in Iran and the persecution of Baha'is in Iran. ¹

In 1987 Aghdashloo married the actor and playwright Houshang Touzie; they have a daughter, Tara Touzie, born in 1989, and she has performed in a number of Touzie's plays, taken to national and international stages primarily in the Iranian diaspora. ¹ The article states: "Though born to a Muslim family, she has stated that she is non-practicing." ¹

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