Nazanin Boniadi is rapidly making her mark in both film and television. She co-starred as CIA analyst Fara Sherazi on seasons three and four of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama _"Homeland" 2009-2015, and continues to partner with the non-profit as an AIUSA Artist of Conscience. In 2014, she was selected for term membership by the Council on Foreign Relations.
She was born in Tehran, Iran, raised in London, England, and moved to the U.S. to attend university. She is a British-American dual citizen.
She is the great great granddaughter of famed 19th Century Persian Philosopher and poet Safi Ali Shah.
She graduated with Honors from the University of California Irvine, where she received a Bacholors Degree in Biological Sciences.
Fluent in both English and Farsi.
Completed an intensive course in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2009.
She is a human rights activist and served a spokesperson for Amnesty International USA from 2009 until 2015. She continues to partner with the organization as an Artist of Conscience. She joined the Board of Directors at the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in October 2015.
Boniadi changed her career path from medicine and started pursuing acting in 2006.
She was selected as a Term Member by the Council on Foreign Relations in 2014.
In 2012, an article in Vanity Fair ("What Katie Didnt Know" by Maureen Orth) alleged that Nazanin was covertly selected by officials in the Church of Scientology to be Tom Cruises girlfriend before his marriage to Katie Holmes. The article also suggests that the organization monitored and punished Nazanin after their 3 month relationship, when she confided in a friend about the setup and expressed concern about the church violating its own policies. This was also discussed in Lawrence Wrights 2013 book "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief" and in Alex Gibneys subsequent Emmy Award-winning documentary, "Going Clear". The Church of Scientology and Tom Cruises representatives denied all such allegations but they did not file suit against the reporters. Nazanin and her representatives refused to comment.
Our rights are interconnected and inseparable. When freedom of expression is threatened, the rights to freedom of association and assembly, of thought, conscience and religion, are also compromised.
In real life, too, women love to be that girl who tames the bad boy.
Generally, I love being part of a project that imparts a positive message, is somehow educational or enlightening, helps to bridge differences, or inspires viewers in some way.
