I Love Shohreh Aghdashloo

IF you haven’t seen the fourth season of the TV series “24”, then you probably haven’t seen the exceptional Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo.Born in Tehran in 1952, she moved to the US after the 1978 Revolution.She won an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress for her role in “House of Sand and Fog”, and will be in the upcoming film “Il Mare” with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.In “24” she played the role of Dina Araz, the wife of a Muslim terrorist, and mother of Ferooz Araz. They are all involved in a complex terrorist plot to kidnap the US secretary of defense, shoot down Air Force One with the US president aboard, and launch a nuclear missile headed towards Los Angeles.Aghdashloo admits that many Iranians in the US were upset with her portraying a terrorist in “24”, but she says she thinks the writers handled her character with sophistication and nuance.Stunningly beautiful with her thick, long black hair, big eyes and high cheekbones, Aghdashloo is also a very good actress. The shock and bewilderment you see on her face when she learns that her husband has ordered Ferooz killed for having hesitated in killing his American girlfriend, is extremely convincing. I think she should win a Golden Globe or Emmy award for her outstanding performance in “24”.“24” fans are rooting for her comeback in season five, which begins airing in January. Since she was killed off camera, there is the distinct possibility that the writers of “24” could resurrect her.She is due to play an Iranian professor in film version of the hit book “Reading Lolita in Tehran”, which is the memoir of a teacher who had a study group that read, among other novels, Nabokov’s classic “Lolita”.

With her onscreen son Ferooz in a scene from "24"