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When you think of Veteran actors the
first thing that comes to mind is age
and the loss of youth. But what should
come to mind is hard work, perseverance
which is easily recognizable by the
words ‘veteran actor’ because that best
captures that priceless.
Not just actors and actresses but
people; not many can say that they’ve
accomplished so much in their lifetime.
Oscar nominated for her role in House of
Sand and Fog, actress Shohreh Aghdashloo
can almost be characterized as an
inspiration for her latest role as
Elizabeth in The Nativity Story;
portraying the eldest cousin of Mary;
Shohreh a Shi’a Muslim, fled Iran in the
late 70s pursuing many options including
Journalism before returning to her true
love of expression.
You
played such an incredible role as
Elizabeth. How did you like working with
the cast and the director?
Shohreh
Aghdashloo:
I liked working in this film most and
foremost because of the fact that,
although I have been working for 30
years, I’ve never had the pleasure of
working with so many good actors at once
in one film. It was great working with
Catherine; she allows a lot of
improvisation.
You
talked about improvisation. What do we
see that is in the film but was not
actually in the script?
Shohreh
Aghdashloo:
We had to act accordingly to the script.
We couldn’t do any kind of changes to
the script. There was no room for
changing the lines. It was all in the
acting. The portrayal or interacting
with another actor.
You went
to Bible Boot camp but was there another
point when Catherine discussed with you
what she wanted from you in regards to
this role?
Shohreh
Aghdashloo:
When my grandmother couldn’t tell us
what to do she would act the same way as
she would want us to act in the future.
Catherine did the same. She took us
through one week of Nazareth Booth; we
call it; different sessions and classes,
dialect coach and how to make bread and
making goat. So methodically she took us
back to that time. By taking us back she
made us ready to be able to portray our
character. She allowed a lot of
improvisation. In other words she was
waiting for us to come up with our own
interpretation of the character.
Was
there anything personal you were trying
to convey through your portrayal?
Shobreh
Aghdashloo:
I think so. When I started doing my
research on this character it was hard.
With my characters I try to study as
much as I can. With fictional characters
it’s easier because I can use a lot of
imagination but with this one; with
Elizabeth it’s harder because she’s a
real character. When I was doing my
research I was told that the only place
she was heard of was in the Gospel of
Luke. I got myself a bible and read A to
Z, 3500 characters including Elizabeth.
I started studying her character and
realizing how generous, how selfless,
how kind this woman was. I’m trying to
figure out what kind of face with a pair
of eyes always smiling at humanity.
Were you
born Shi’a? And how did your upbringing
effect your portrayal in the film?
Shobreh
Aghdashloo:
First of all I have to say that I was
familiar with this story because of [my]
grandma. I was born a Shi’a Muslim but a
student of all religions as grandma was
and my approach wasn’t religion at all.
It was culture. I do believe that
religion is apart of our culture, our
upbringing and our environment. It was a
social approach for me rather than
anything else. I what I learned from it
more or less is that all religions say
the same things as in the Bible; now I
am hooked. I discovered because of this
film that the Bible is a great source
for Western literature and it teaches me
a lot. In John the first it says ‘God is
light. And if you are walking in the
darkness, you’re not in fellowship with
him’. Stay positive. Stay light.
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