TONIGHT

• Home
• Video
• Podcasts/RSS 
• Local Showtimes
• Past Shows
• Blogs
• About the Show
• Tell Tavis
• Features
• Mobile

RELATED LINKS

• Ms. Aghdashloo's bio
• 24

E-mail a friend

Tavis: Shohreh Aghdashloo is a talented actress who's earned critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination, no less, for her role in the film 'House of Sand and Fog.' Of course, you know that by now. The Iranian-born actress also played a major part this season on the hit Fox series '24.' Her role as the matriarch of a Muslim terrorist cell drew terrific reviews from the critics, but it also stirred up some controversy. Shohreh, nice to see you.

Shohreh Aghdashloo: Thank you, Tavis. Thank you so much for having me.

Tavis: Nice to have you on the program. Tell me what kind of turmoil, if any, you went through internally trying to figure out whether or not to play a role like that that some find stereotypical.

Aghdashloo: It was pretty hard, to begin with, to make the decision because I'm sure you're aware of it, that I kept refusing playing a terrorist.

Tavis: For years.

Aghdashloo: For years. First of all, because all the terrorist roles that I was encountering with, they were just the facade of a terrorist, not the real psyche behind it. This one was pretty dimensional. When they came to me and offered the role, I realized that it's a big role. It's a role that I could play a variety of roles under one name only because this woman is so complex that each and every phase of hers would be really interesting to watch and get into, getting to know, understanding these kind of psyches behind a terrorist's mind. Therefore, I wanted to play it, but it was hard. It was a very hard decision to make. It took me almost 2 weeks, but I'm glad I did make the decision and I played it.

Tavis: I've talked to any number of African-American actors and any number of Hispanic or Latino actors as well who feel a certain responsibility to try to choose roles that show the complexity of character that people of color have. We're not one-dimensional. They want to play characters that show African Americans and Hispanics in their best light, and I suspect the reason why you refused playing a terrorist all those years is for that very reason. When you decided to play this character, did you catch any hell from Muslims for playing the character?

Aghdashloo: Yes. Yes, there was a protest in Washington and also, Turkish Embassy protested because of the first episode in dealing with the calligraphy, that they're not quite sure whether it's Turkish or Arabic. There were some rumors and, you know, assumptions that they might be Turkish.

Tavis: As I recall, Kiefer Sutherland, the star of the show, had to do a PSA to explain that this character wasn't representative of all Muslims.

Aghdashloo: That's right. I'm afraid, yes, he had to do that, and I'm glad he did it because, you know, sometimes misconceptions could be pretty dangerous, and what I personally kept saying is that wait. Wait and see where these characters are heading to. Wait and see what happens at the end. Do not make an assumption. I love Rumi, a Persian poet. He was born in 12th century, and kept repeating one of his poems. "Beyond the notion of right and wrong, there is a garden. My dear friend, would you like to meet me there?" Rather than making all these assumptions. So it was pretty hard.

Tavis: Tell me how an Iranian ends up becoming an actress nominated for an Academy Award no less. How did you find your way into this field?

Aghdashloo: It was like a fairy tale, honestly. After almost 23 years, I managed to play a substantial role in a great film in the main industry, and obviously it went beyond my imagination. I had no idea that it was going to get as big as it did. And it was all like, like a dream. A great dream that is coming true. All the way true, including Oscars.

Tavis: I'm not trying to hit on you here, but--although that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I'm not trying to hit on you, but that voice I find to be rather sexy. Have you always talked like this?

Aghdashloo: Yes, I'm afraid I did. My mother used to say, "I have one boy and 3 girls." She meant my 3 brothers.

Tavis: Ha ha ha! So your voice was deeper than that of your brothers?

Aghdashloo: I'm afraid, yes, at quite an early age.

Tavis: What--since you mentioned a moment ago that the acting thing was a fairy tale, I assume from that answer you didn't start out wanting to be an actor. You went to school for something else and found your way--tell me the story about how you--

Aghdashloo: No, no, I always wanted to become an actress since I was 8.

Tavis: You did? OK.

Aghdashloo: But it was a sort of taboo for some Persian families back in Iran, you know. They would rather send their kids abroad to get them educated, you know. And the plan for me, my mother wanted to send me to Germany to become a doctor, but then I had to become the first black sheep of my family and start acting. So I started acting at the age of 20 with stage, of course. I love stage. That's my territory. I just love stage. So I started with stage. I was lucky enough to be offered lead roles in films, and the very first one was with Kiarostami, you know, the Iranian renowned film director. 'The Report,' his first feature film. I was playing a lead in his film when I was 21, so from then you can imagine all the screenplays were pouring in, plays, and it was very good.

Tavis: What year did you leave the country? When did you leave Iran?

Aghdashloo: I left Iran 1979, and the airport was closed. The prime minister at the time had ordered all the airports to shut down because there was a rumor that Ayatollah Khomeini was coming in, therefore, he shut down all the airports, and I thought, this is my last decision. I would either stay and become a second-class citizen, or leave and start from scratch again, which I did.

Tavis: So how'd you get out?

Aghdashloo: I left 4:30 a.m. Driving out. I went from Tehran to Istanbul, from Istanbul to Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia--Venice, Italy, Venice to south of France, south of France--Calais, Calais--London.

That's how I started, and I wanted to study politics. I wanted to know what was going on in the Middle East, to grasp the meaning behind it and to understand it. And I was observing it, but didn't understand it, therefore, I wanted to study political science, and I did 4 years in England. I managed to receive my B.A. in 1983 in international relations.

Tavis: Well, good. That's a perfect segue to this question, which I wasn't certain I was gonna get into this arena of conversation, but let's go there for a minute if I might. Since you studied politics, we just celebrated a commemoration, an anniversary, depending on one's perspective, of the Iranian hostage crisis. When I say Iranian hostage crisis to you, what comes to mind? What do you recall about that? What do you...

Aghdashloo: Well, I'm afraid it's like the difference between Persia and Iran. They're both the same. Iran used to be called Persia up until 1935 when the Iranian government announced that Persia's name has changed to Iran. It's the same, but when I say to my western friends--when I say I'm from Persia, they immediately remember 1,001 nights, Scheherazade, beautiful stories, ancient cities, old jewelries, antiques, nice architects, 400, 500-year-old houses. But when I say Iran, I'm afraid, because of the hostage crisis, immediately I would remind them of the nest of espionage and terrorism, which Iran is really not a nest of espionage and terrorism. It's a beautiful, ancient country. Persia is a better name for me to remind my friends of a beautiful place, of an old place with culture and wisdom and a place that they could really enjoy visiting. Not now, of course.

Tavis: I'm about to ask you, speaking of not now, with all due respect to your answer, the folk in the White House don't quite see it that way. They see the latter view of Iran, as opposed to the former view of Iran. In fact, we all know they are part of the "axis of evil." so what do you think about the way the Bush administration is proceeding with regard to our relations, or lack thereof, with Iran?

Aghdashloo: I do believe that when President Bush is referring to Iran as the axis of evil, he's not talking to the Iranian people.

Tavis: Not to the people.

Aghdashloo: Not to the people of Iran. It's the government of Iran, Islamic Republic, that we're having difficulties with. It's not the people of Iran. I do not take it personally. I do understand that we should really take care of those who are supporting the terrorism around the world. Let it be in my birth country or anywhere else. I would stand for it. I would stand behind our president because I believe he's right. We should really stop them, and I don't take it personally. On the contrary, I believe that Americans love Iranians, and Iranians love Americans. This is the kind of feeling that I was brought up with. My grandmother used to tell me a lot of stories about American soldiers, how they came to Europe at the end of World War II and saved people. This is how I've always been referred to the United States and its culture and its people. All my life back in Iran, I've been taught how nice they were, how helpful they've been in the second World War.

Tavis: Given the way the U.S. is engaged in the Middle East these days, do the Iranian people, from your perspective, still view Americans the same way?

Aghdashloo: Well, again, it depends on what your perspectives are and what kind of window you're watching it through. It's--for me, I'm pretty happy with what's happening in the Middle East because all these tyrants, such as Saddam Hussein, they needed to be removed. He had to leave. He was killing more people than have been killed after the war in Iraq, and it was horrible. I've gone through dictatorships and tyrannies. I am familiar with the situation, and I know how it works, and it's horrible. You have no idea how hard it is. You know, we take everything for granted here because we were born--you were born in the middle of it, freedom and democracy and all, but it's very hard not to have these things.

Tavis: Let me close our conversation by going back to the beginning. Enough of the politics, which is good. I enjoyed talking to you about that, but let's get back to your performance before I let you go. So what are you working on now? '24,' we saw last week the finale. You got killed off in that, so that's over and done with, '24.' I know you ain't comin' back on that. So what are you working on now? What's next?

Aghdashloo: Right now, I'm working on a film called 'Il Mare, the Sea,' directed by Alejandro Agresti. His latest was Valentin in U.S. He's an Argentinean director, and the story is a Korean story that's been adapted into English. And I've been more than fortunate to work with my favorite actors, Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, and Christopher Plummer.

Tavis: That's a nice cast. Shohreh, nice to meet you.

Aghdashloo: Thank you.

Tavis: I'm glad to have you on the program.

Aghdashloo: Thanks for having me.

Tavis: Glad to have you. Anytime. That's our show for tonight. A reminder you can catch me back on public radio this weekend, and for that matter, every weekend on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. We'll talk on the radio, but I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from L.A. Thanks for watching and, as always, keep the faith.