Today in Star Trek history: Shohreh Aghdashloo was born

Shohreh Aghdashloo as Commodore Paris in Star Trek Beyond

MAY 11, 2022 - Shohreh Aghdashloo was added to the cast of Star Trek Beyond late in the production process, only a few months before the film premiered. Her scenes, in fact, were filmed during reshoots, rather than the during the primary phase of filming. But, regardless of when she was assigned to Starbase Yorktown, she is part of the Star Trek family and today is her birthday.

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1952 as Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar, Aghdashloo took her stage name from the family name of her first husband, the painter Aydin Aghdashloo. She was 19 years old when they married (he was 31) and soon after, she began taking theater workshops against her family’s wishes. She eventually began acting in Iranian theater and film productions, including a stage adaptation of the novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

In 1978, a campaign of civil resistance began against the current then-ruler of Iran, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, culminating in the burning of the Rex Cinema, which killed between 377 and 470 people. The event triggered the Iranian Revolution, which resulted in Pahlavi’s ousting and creation of the Islamic Republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

It was against this backdrop that Aghdashloo divorced her husband after eight years and fled the country for England. There, she earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations at Brunel University, an interest touched off by the political upheaval back home.

Once she had the degree under her belt, she went back to her first love, acting, and moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1987, she married actor/playwright Houshang Touzie and has performed in many of his plays, nationally and internationally, mainly in the Iranian diaspora, those of Iranian heritage living outside Iran.

On television, Aghdashloo has been seen in Matlock, Will & Grace, ER, Gray’s Anatomy and, controversially, she played an Iranian terrorist in 24. She had previously resisted taking a role that reinforced the “Muslims as terrorist” stereotype, but she found the strength and complexity of the role compelling.

She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2003 film House of Sand and Fog and she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her portrayal of Said Talfah in the HBO miniseries House of Saddam. She also served as a festival judge in the second annual Noon Iranian Film Festival in 2008. in 2010, she was awarded a Career Achievement Award during the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans’ first annual gala.

Aghdashloo’s role in Star Trek Beyond is that of Commodore Paris (although her rank stripes indicate that she is an admiral.) In command of Starbase Yorktown, she offers Captain Kirk the position of vice admiral. He ultimately turns it down, instead going on to captain the USS Enterprise-A. The commodore’s name is a nod to that of Tom Paris, helmsman of the USS Voyager, and she is assumed to be his grandmother.

Of late, Aghdashloo has been part of the main cast of The Expanse for its entire 6-year run and is a recurring character in season 2 of The Flight Attendant.

Please join us here as Daily Star Trek News in wishing Shohreh Aghdashloo a happy 69th birthday.

Further Reading

Wikipedia: Shohreh Aghdashloo; Iranian Revolution

Memory Alpha: Commodore Paris