Golshifteh Farahani

Born in the capital of Iran, Golshifteh Farahani began acting from an early age. She has starred in many films which have gone on to become film festival favorites, including Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon (winner of the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián film festival 2006) and M for Mother (2006), which was chosen to represent Iran for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 2008.

Soon Hollywood called, and Ridley Scott cast Farahani in his 2008 film Body of Lies. After a series of controversies, Farahani was banned from entering her strict home nation of Iran, starring in her final Iranian film, About Elly in 2009, a feature that would go on to win the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Hollywood continued to provide her with great roles and she has appeared in multiple big budget features, including Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge (2017) and Extraction (2020) opposite Chris Hemsworth.