Shohreh Aghdashloo
« One Couple. One Journey. One
Child...who would change the world...forever »
–Tagline to The
Nativity Story
What is amazing about Shohreh
Aghdashloo is that one cannot second guess her eclectic film choices. Her career
has been one of ups and downs and yet she has pursued her path with
determination and most importantly for an actor with an immense Faith in her Art
which was often at odds with that of
her community and generation. The rising Star of Abass Kiarostami’s only
political movie Gozaresh had to put an end to her career due to a
religious revolution that was to tear her country, partly break her marriage to
another talented artist Aydin Aghdashloo and force her to exile for a life that
was no less bohemian and yet full of happy surprises. Maybe it is precisely
Faith that brought Shohreh back where she truly belonged that is the London
Stage and subsequently to the sunlight’s of Hollywood where she was to even be
nominated for an Oscar in 2003 in a supporting role in A House with Sand and
Fog. In a profession where women, unlike men are often denied great roles
after a certain age, Aghdashloo seems to evolve like good wine, adding with each
film an extra dimension to her wide abilities as an actress of talent. The
Former Jodie Foster of Iranian Cinema seems to capture the Camera with her
strong personality very much like former Hollywood Legend Bette Davis.
Aghdashloo’s unique blend of voice and exotic looks surely remain in everyone’s
mind after each of her onscreen performances as she subtly steals the show from
her often more famous co-Stars be it : as Sir Ben Kingsley’s tormented wife in
Andre Dubus III novel’s screen adaptation, as the cold blooded terrorist Dina
Araz opposite Kieffer Sutherland in 24 or as a medic in blockbusters
like X-Men 3, The Lake House or The Exorcism of Emily Rose
opposite such acclaimed Stars as Hugh Jackson, Sandra Bullock or Jennifer
Carpenter. If Hollywood still owes
Aghdashloo justice (*) with a great
title role that would put her in the limelight of public attention, and a
popularity long due amongst Hollywood talents, she creates attention once again
by appearing cast as Elisabeth mother of John The Baptist in a much expected Biblical Epic: The Nativity Story directed by
Helen Catherine Hardwicke.
The Nativity Story" chronicles the arduous journey of two people, Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Joseph (Oscar Isaac), a miraculous pregnancy, and the history-defining birth of Jesus. In a small village, a young girl lives the last teenage years. To escape the harsh conditions of family life, her parents hope to marry her. Everything was prepared for this important event when suddenly her fate takes a different turn: The Angel Gabriel comes to Mary and announces that she will have a child like no other women ever did. Thus the most extraordinary story of Humanity is about to be unfold …
Nativity Cast : Top :Oscar
Isaac (Joseph) and Keisha Castle-Hughes (Mary),
Ciaran Hinds (King Herod),
Bottom : Shaun Toub (Joaquim)
Alexander Siddig (Gabriel)
Aghdashloo plays the role of
Elizabeth, wife of Zachary and mother of John the Baptist, is to be found in the
book of Luke. Elisabeth means in Hebrew "worshiper of God." A descendant of the
priestly line of Aaron, she was a kinswoman—how close we are not told—of the
Virgin Mary. According to the Gospel,
Elizabeth and Mary according to a
Biblical
Lithography
Screenwriter Mike Rich began writing
the screenplay of the movie on 1 December 2005, exactly a year before its
release. The cast were taught how to use certain tools used 2000 years ago as
well as how to build homes, how to press olives and grapes, how to make bread,
how to make cheese, and how to milk goats. Rich's script, and it's faithful and
reverent to the Gospel accounts, but also brings Joseph and Mary's characters
alive in a very human way. They wrestle with fears and doubts and anxieties, all
within the framework of unshakeable faith. The film was shot partly in
Iranian Shaun Toub is also playing
in an epic for the first time along with an impressive cast, including Ciaran
Hinds (King Herod), Alexander Siddig (Gabriel) both of whom are familiar to Epic
films since they respectively played as Julius Caesar and Hannibal in the series
The film is due for a World Release
just before Christmas on December 1st of this
year.
Author’s
note:
Official Website of The Nativity Story: www.thenativitystory.com
(*) Contrary to The Lake
House, strangely Shohreh Aghdashloo’s photo credits do not appear in the
official websites of her latest movies such as X-Men 3 or The Nativity
Story although her role’s are more than just noticeable parts in both films.
(**) Aghdashloo has been Awarded
along with another actor of Epics Omid Djalili in the upcoming Persian Golden
Lioness Awards in Budapest Hungary organized by WAALM® 2nd annual
Awards 2006
About the Author: Darius KADIVAR is a Freelance
Journalist, Film Historian and Columnist of the OCPC Magazine USA. He operated
as