Editing Shohreh Aghdashloo (section)

== Career ==
[[File:ShohrehAghdashloo08TIFF.jpg|thumb|upright|Aghdashloo in 2008]]

Aghdashloo first began working as a theatre actress at the age of 19, when she starred in a theatrical adaptation of the novel ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' (1973).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDcKl-8tj6Y|title='Shohreh Aghdashloo – "I had to fight for every right. For my basic right!"|date=December 10, 2017|website=YouTube|language=en-US|access-date=June 24, 2020|archive-date=August 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824221114/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDcKl-8tj6Y|url-status=live}}</ref> Aghdashloo made her American film debut in 1989 in a starring role in ''Guests of Hotel Astoria''. Her television debut came on September 25, 1990, in a guest role in the two-hour episode of the [[NBC]] [[television program|television series]] ''[[Matlock (1986 TV series)|Matlock]]'', titled "Nowhere to Turn: A Matlock Mystery Movie". In the years that followed Aghdashloo appeared on screen sporadically, including in the widely panned ''[[Surviving Paradise (2000 film)|Surviving Paradise]]'' (2000),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-30-ca-46270-story.html|title='Surviving Paradise': Iranian Kids on the Loose|date=June 30, 2000|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=December 12, 2019|archive-date=December 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212200652/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-30-ca-46270-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-CLIPS-Also-opening-today-2736336.php|title=FILM CLIPS / Also opening today|last1=Stack|first1=Peter|last2=Guthmann|first2=Edward|date=September 29, 2000|website=SFGate|access-date=December 12, 2019|last3=LaSalle|first3=Mick|archive-date=December 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212200943/https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-CLIPS-Also-opening-today-2736336.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/film/film_results.php3?showid=1205|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010707151838/http://www.laweekly.com/film/film_results.php3?showid=1205|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 7, 2001|title=Film Search Results|date=July 7, 2001|access-date=December 12, 2019}}</ref> written and directed by [[Kamshad Kooshan]].

In 2001 Aghdashloo was cast opposite [[Ben Kingsley]] and [[Jennifer Connelly]] in director [[Vadim Perelman]]'s ''[[House of Sand and Fog (film)|House of Sand and Fog]]'' (2003)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://movies.about.com/cs/houseofsandandfog/a/hsofsa121203.htm |title=House of Sand and Fog Movie&nbsp;– Shohreh Aghdashloo Interview |publisher=[[About.com|Movies.about.com]] |date=June 17, 2010 |access-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-date=January 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111193849/http://movies.about.com/cs/houseofsandandfog/a/hsofsa121203.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> for which she was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1018068,00.html |title=Q&A: Shohreh Aghdashloo |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]] |date=January 24, 2005 |access-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-date=August 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825224221/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1018068,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following this exposure Aghdashloo had a prominent recurring role in Season 4 of the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] television series ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]'',<ref>{{cite web |last=Bianco |first=Robert |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2010-05-19-24appreciation19_ST_N.htm |title=At the end of the day, Jack Bauer and '24' delivered |publisher=Usatoday.Com |date=May 21, 2010 |access-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528185649/http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2010-05-19-24appreciation19_ST_N.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> playing [[Dina Araz]], a [[terrorism|terrorist]] undercover in [[Los Angeles]] as a well-to-do housewife and mother. In an interview with ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, Aghdashloo stated that although she had previously resisted reinforcing the stereotype of [[Muslim]]s as terrorists, the strength and complexity of the role convinced her to accept it. In the period that followed, Aghdashloo made guest appearances on several well-known television series, such as ''[[Will & Grace]]'', ''[[ER (TV series)|ER]]'' and ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]''. She also played supporting roles in films such as ''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'' as Dr. [[Kavita Rao]], ''[[The Lake House (film)|The Lake House]]'', ''[[The Nativity Story]]'' as [[Elizabeth (biblical figure)|Elizabeth]], and ''[[The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2]]''.

In 2008, Aghdashloo served as an official festival judge at the second annual [[Noor Iranian Film Festival]] in [[Los Angeles]], while she also played the lead character of Zahra Khanum in the film ''[[The Stoning of Soraya M.]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dailymailnews.com/0710/17/ShowBiz/index.php?id=3 |title=Shohreh speaks against stoning |publisher=Dailymailnews.com |date=July 17, 2010 |access-date=July 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219080110/http://dailymailnews.com/0710/17/ShowBiz/index.php?id=3 |archive-date=December 19, 2010 }}</ref> marking her first leading role in a feature-length American film. Film scholar [[Hamid Naficy]] criticized her role in the film as "discredit[ing] her vow not to play in films that stereotype Middle Easterners, including Iranians."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naficy |first1=Hamid |title=A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Vol. 4: The Globalizing Era, 1984–2010 |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2012 |page=289}}</ref> In the same year, she also portrayed [[Sajida Talfah]] in the [[HBO]] original miniseries ''[[House of Saddam]]'' for which she received the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie]]. Speaking to a crowd of over 1,400 people at [[George Washington University]]'s Lisner Auditorium on September 12, 2009, Aghdashloo, author Dr. [[Azar Nafisi]], and Dr. Dwight Bashir, Associate Director for Policy at the [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]], added their voices to those concerned about [[human rights in Iran]] and the [[persecution of Baháʼís]] in Iran.<ref>{{Cite news| title = Azar Nafisi, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Dwight Bashir Join Swelling Chorus in Support of Iranian Baha'is| newspaper = Bahá'í Community of DC,News & Events| publisher = Bahai Faith, Washington DC| date = September 12, 2009| url = http://www.dcbahai.org/news-and-events/74-iranevent09| access-date = September 26, 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101223051732/http://dcbahai.org/news-and-events/74-iranevent09| archive-date = December 23, 2010}}</ref> Aghdashloo's talk in particular was posted to [[YouTube]].<ref>{{cite web | last = Aghdashloo | first = Shohreh | title = Shohreh Aghdashloo on Baha'i Human Rights in Iran | publisher = ctcny9 | date = September 21, 2009 | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeb_HDTRkbA | access-date = September 26, 2009 | archive-date = September 27, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090927054834/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeb_HDTRkbA | url-status = live }}</ref> On October 9, 2010, the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans awarded Aghdashloo their Career Achievement Award during its first annual gala.<ref>[http://www.paaia.org/CMS/announcing-the-first-paaia-annual-gala-.aspx "Announcing the First PAAIA Annual Gala"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927165640/http://www.paaia.org/CMS/announcing-the-first-paaia-annual-gala-.aspx |date=September 27, 2010 }}, Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, October 9, 2010</ref>
Agdashloo continues to act in films, such as ''[[The Odd Life of Timothy Green]]'', ''[[Septembers of Shiraz]]'' and ''[[Star Trek Beyond]]''; and on television, guest starring on series such as ''[[House, M.D.]]'', ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''[[Grimm (TV Series)|Grimm]]'', ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'' and ''[[NCIS (TV series)|NCIS]]''. She also voiced characters for the video games ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', ''[[Destiny (video game)|Destiny]]'' ''[[Destiny 2]]'', and ''[[Assassin's Creed Mirage]]''; starred in the London revival of the play ''[[The House of Bernarda Alba]]'' at the Almeida Theatre as Bernarda Alba; and narrated the audiobook ''[[And the Mountains Echoed]]'', by [[Khaled Hosseini]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Negahban |first1=Navid |title=And the Mountains Echoed |last2=Aghdashloo |first2=Shohreh |date=May 21, 2013 |publisher=Penguin Audio |isbn=978-1-61176-180-1}}</ref>

From 2015 to 2022, Aghdashloo starred in [[Amazon Prime Video]]'s television series ''[[The Expanse (TV series)|The Expanse]]'' as [[United Nations|UN]] Deputy Undersecretary of Executive Administration Chrisjen Avasarala, a "smart and passionate member of a political family legacy who has risen high in the ranks of Earth's governing body without once standing for election".<ref name="Entertainment Weekly" /> In 2025, she portrayed [[Elaida a'Roihan]] in season three of the Amazon series ''[[The Wheel of Time (TV series)|The Wheel of Time]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2024/12/the-wheel-of-time-shohreh-aghdashloo-season-3-cast-1236199972/|title='''The Wheel of Time'' Adds Shohreh Aghdashloo to Season 3 Cast|first=Denise|last=Petski|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=December 11, 2024|access-date=December 11, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/wheel-of-time-season-3-cast-shohreh-aghdashloo-1236245090/|title=''Wheel of Time'' Season 3 Casts Shohreh Aghdashloo|first=Joe|last=Otterson|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=December 11, 2024|access-date=December 11, 2024}}</ref>