Shohreh Aghdashloo left her husband and burgeoning acting career (which her Muslim parents discouraged her to pursue) behind in Iran in 1978 for England, intending to continue her education and go into journalism; she earned a degree in international relations. Just on the verge of accepting a newspaper job, Aghdashloo was offered a role in a play. Her angst for acting reemerged, and she accepted the role. The play toured the U.S., where she remarried and continued acting in small movies. Her work in several movies about the struggle of Iranian immigrants caught the eye of director Vadim Perelman, who cast her in House of Sand and Fog opposite Ben Kingsley.

1. She's the first Iranian actress ever to be nominated for an Oscar.
2. Her current husband Houshang Touzie was one of her early acting workshop colleagues back in Tehran.
3. She first became interested in her award-nominated role in House of Sand and Fog when the book was featured on Oprah.
4. She and her husband run a theater company together.
5. After years of refusing to play a terrorist, she did so on 24 in 2006.

On acting with men versus women: "Men are much more prima donnas than women. You know, the way they move. They're obnoxious and jealous and so on and so forth, worse than women."
About.com, March 23, 2005

Husbands: Houshang Touzie, actor; married 1985, met on the stage set of +Rainbow; Aydin Aghdashloo, married 1972, divorced 1980
Daughter: (with Touzie) Tara

2004: Academy Award nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, House of Sand and Fog