TIMOTCA Welcomes Goodwill Ambassador
Shohreh Aghdashloo
“I urge you to join me on a unique journey - a journey that will enrich your life and help change the world. I ask all those who yearn for peace – all those who understand the power of the arts to heal and uplift, to join me in support of TIMOTCA. Help TIMOTCA foster peace and cultural understanding through the universal language of Art by establishing the first truly global Cultural Centre presenting the visual and performing arts of every country and culture of our world. Please support the vision of TIMOTCA by becoming a donor or member of TIMOTCA’s Circle of Angels.”
Shohreh Aghdashloo
An actress whose strong political beliefs almost led her to a career as a journalist, Shohreh Aghdashloo decided instead that she could reach more people by working in film and theater -- and with her Oscar-nominated role in the tragedy, “House of Sand and Fog,” she found an audience the size of which she never dreamed possible.
Born in Tehran in 1952 to an intellectual, creative family, Aghdashloo was drawn to the theater at an early age. Eager to escape the turmoil of the Iranian Revolution, Aghdashloo left her promising career in Iran to go to London, where she earned a degree in international relations hoping to put her degree to use as a political journalist.
She was on the verge of accepting a position at a newspaper when a friend presented her with a play about the Revolution, called “Rainbow,” with a role written specifically for her. Aghdashloo believed in the project enough to put her journalism career on hold -- for what would turn out to be an indefinite length of time. Rainbow was such a success, it toured the United States, where Aghdashloo was reunited with a Workshop colleague, Houshang Touzie. They married in Los Angeles in the late '80s.
She made her American film debut in a starring role in “Guests of Hotel Astoria.” Later, opposite the formidable Ben Kingsley in a cast of established performers, Aghdashloo's subtle, simmering performance brought her kudos from the New York Film Critics and Los Angeles Film Critics Associations, both of whom named her 2003's Best Supporting Actress. The Academy followed suit, nominating her against such Hollywood stalwarts as Renée Zellweger and Holly Hunter. In 2006 Aghdashloo would heed the call of Hollywood once again to take a featured role as the best friend of Sandra Bullock's lonely character in the romantic fantasy remake “The Lake House.”
Sharing TIMOTCA’s “vision” and using her voice and passion to reach out to the world community, Shohreh has enthusiastically accepted the position of TIMOTCA’s Goodwill Ambassador.