Interview: ‘Soraya M.’ Star Shohreh Aghdashloo

“Accompanied by thousands of women” is what Shohreh Aghdashloo told her friends about how she felt attending the Academy Awards in 2004 as the first Iranian nominated for an acting award for her performance in “House of Sand and Fog”. Since that nomination, Aghdashloo has appeared in numerous television shows and in many movies, including her newest film, “The Stoning of Soraya M.” 

Several weeks ago, I wrote an article for “Big Hollywood” about the importance of that new film and Aghdashloo’s work as an actress who speaks up for voiceless women. As a follow-up to that article, I had the opportunity to conduct a phone interview with the Oscar nominee who, one day before I spoke to her, was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in the miniseries “House of Saddam.” During the interview, Ms. Aghdashloo spoke about the current situation in Iran, her work in the film “The Stoning of Soraya M.”, and what attracts her to certain projects.

“Whatever happens, Iran will not be the same,” Ms. Aghdashloo said about the recent protests in that country. Although the media attention about the situation in Iran has faded recently, Aghdashloo saw the great potential that the rallies and the protests had a few weeks ago. She told me that the recent events in Iran changed that country and that now the genie was “out of the bottle.” Unfortunately, she also said that the “situation today is worse than a few weeks ago” because of the political prisoners now being held in that nation. Although she has not returned to Iran since the revolution happened thirty years ago, Aghdashloo continues to follow the situation there closely and she still has relatives in the country.  

Iran has not always recognized Aghdashloo’s work as an actress. As she recently told The Washington Post, “Up until the Oscar nomination, my name was banned. Nobody mentioned my name. They knew what I was doing but never mentioned it officially. But I’ll never forget: My mother called and said, ”Your name is in the newspapers.” And this time it was ‘our Shohreh Aghdashloo has been nominated.’”

In terms of her new movie “The Stoning of Soraya M.”, Aghdashloo spoke knowingly about the inhumane practice of stoning. Describing it as being “beyond humanity,” she told me about a video of a real-life stoning that she had watched on video two decades ago where two men were stoned to death for being homosexuals. After watching the video, Aghdashloo told me that she could not eat properly for several days. She then said that she had news for people who question the intensity of the brutal stoning scene near the end of “The Stoning of Soraya M.”– the real act is much, much worse. The video she watched of a real-life stoning was over an hour and a half, she said. As her character in the movie tells the story of the real Soraya M., whose story was told in a book of the same name, Aghdashloo said that, through the publicity for the movie, “I am telling the reporters now what happened.”

During the interview, Aghdashloo also spoke about the choices she makes in finding her newest projects. In looking at a new project, she noted that she looks for metaphors and symbols about the deeper meaning of the project. She also stated that she feels like she has a “duty to tell stories from Iran” and she described herself as “an actress with a mission.” It is no surprise then that Aghdashloo chooses projects like “The Stoning of Soraya M.” that has a clear mission of shedding light on the inhumane practice of stoning that still occurs  in some parts of the world today.

Five years after her Oscar nomination, Aghdashloo’s career continues to flourish. I spoke to her briefly about her recent Emmy nomination for “House of Saddam.” She said that the nomination was “incredible.” With an Oscar nomination, an Emmy nomination and a collection of projects that includes television roles on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “24” and “ER” and roles in such films as “House of Sand and Fog” and “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” many could use the same word to describe Aghdashloo’s career. I have no doubt that the thousands of women she felt accompanied her to the Academy Awards half a decade ago would be proud of the work she has done and look forward to what projects she chooses to pursue in the future.

[Ed. Note: "The Stoning of Soraya M." is now playing in select theatres. Please visit here for a list of locations.]