Born on May 11, 1952 in Tehran, Iran, Shohreh Aghdashloo is an Oscar-nominated Iranian-American actress best known for her role with Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley in House of Sand and Fog. Born as Pari Vaziri-TAbar, the Aghdashloo is the name of her former husband, a famous Iranian painter Aydin. She was raised to a wealthy Shiite Muslim family and started acting when she was 20. Her first film role in the feature Gozaresh was directed by renowned director Abbas Kiarostami, which won the Critics Award at the Moscow Film Festival. This was followed by Shatranje Bad and Sooteh, which were also screened at several film festivals.
Aghdashloo left Iran during the 1979 Iranian Revolution and went to Windermere, !$#!#bria, England in 1978, where she also completed her education. She finished a degree in International Relations because of her interest in politics and social injustice especially in Iran. She decided to pursue acting professionally as she moved to Los Angeles in 1987. She married actor-playwright Houshang Touzie and the two had a daughter in 1989.
Two years later in 1989, Shohreh Aghdashloo formally made her American film debut in a starring role in Guests of Hotel Astoria. Meanwhile, her television debut came in 1990 when she guest-starred in a two-hour episode of NBC’s Matlock. She played a saleslady. Three years later, she went back and bagged a guest role in the series Martin in a 1993 episode. In 2000, she bagged another role in the critically acclaimed Maryam. This was followed by a string of movies, most notable of which was the 2003 feature House of Sand and Fog, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Aghdashloo also played in a string of episodes of the Fox series 24, ER, and the short-lived Smith. Her other film credits include The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Lake House, and X-Men: The Last Stand.