- Born
- Height5′ 3″ (1.60 m)
- Nazanin Boniadi's film and television credits are a testament to her versatility, spanning a breadth of genres including drama, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy and action. She recently starred as Bronwyn in the first season of Amazon's global hit series adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), she also starred alongside J.K. Simmons in the critically acclaimed Starz series Counterpart (2017), created and produced by Justin Marks. She was the female lead of the Thunder Road / Bleecker Street feature Hotel Mumbai (2018) from director Anthony Maras, in which she starred opposite Dev Patel and was nominated for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Award (AACTA), as well as had a supporting role in the Jay Roach and Charles Randolph's Roger Ailes film BOMBSHELL for Lionsgate and BRON opposite Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie. She also portrayed Ester in the 2016 major motion picture Ben-Hur (2016), and had a supporting role in Jon Favreau's Iron Man (2008).
Among her many television credits, Boniadi earned an outstanding drama ensemble SAG nomination for her work on Showtime's hit series Homeland (2011) in which she played CIA analyst Fara Sherazi. She portrayed Nora, a relatively longstanding love interest to Neil Patrick Harris's Barney Stinson, in seasons six and seven of How I Met Your Mother (2005). She also appeared as the notorious Adnan Salif in season three of Shonda Rhimes' hit political drama Scandal (2012).
Born in Tehran in the direct aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, Boniadi's parents relocated to London, England, shortly thereafter, where she was raised with an emphasis on education. While she was involved in theatre early in life, Boniadi later decided she wanted to become a physician. She moved to the United States at the age of 19 to attend the University of California, Irvine, where she received her Bachelor's Degree, with Honors (Dean's Academic Achievement and Service Award) in Biological Sciences, and won the "Chang Pin Chun" Undergraduate Research Award for her work in heart-transplant rejection and cancer research.
Switching gears to pursue her first love, Boniadi then decided to study acting, which included training in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London under the supervision of dramaturge Lloyd Trott.
Boniadi is fluent in both English and Persian. She is also a longtime, renowned human rights activist, with a focus on her homeland Iran. Among her numerous recognitions she is the 2023 Sydney Peace Prize laureate. She has served as an ambassador for Amnesty International UK since 2020, and has been a member of the board of directors of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran since 2023. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- RelativesSafi Ali Shah(Great Grandparent)Hajj Mirza Hasan Isfahani(Great Grandparent)
- 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.
- In 2012, an article in Vanity Fair ("What Katie Didn't Know" by Maureen Orth) alleged that Nazanin was covertly selected by officials in the Church of Scientology to be Tom Cruise's 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 Wright's 2013 book "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief" and in Alex Gibney's subsequent Emmy Award-winning documentary, "Going Clear". The Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise's representatives denied all such allegations but they did not file suit against the reporters. Nazanin and her representatives refused to comment.
- Fluent in both English and Farsi.
- She graduated with Honors from the University of California Irvine, where she received a Bacholor's Degree in Biological Sciences.
- Boniadi changed her career path from medicine and started pursuing acting in 2006.
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