Nazanin Boniadi
Encyclopedia
Nazanin Boniadi(born 22 May 1980) is a British Iranian actress currently living and working in the US.
, Iran
. Her parents moved to London
when she was an infant. She performed violin and ballet as a young girl.
She was educated at a private high school and later moved to the US where she earned a Bachelor's Degree, with Honors, in Biological Sciences from the University of California Irvine. At UCI, she won the Chang Pin-Chun Undergraduate Research Award for molecular research involving cancer treatment and heart transplant rejection. She was also Assistant Editor-in-Chief of MedTimes, UCI's undergraduate medical newspaper.
on the Emmy Award
-winning daytime drama General Hospital
and its SOAPnet spin-off series General Hospital: Night Shift
, making her the first contract actor to play a Middle East
ern character in American daytime television history. She is also the first Iranian-born actress to ever be on contract on an American soap opera.
She was nominated for an NAACP Image Award
for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2008 for her role in General Hospital.
Her General Hospital character died from exposure to a biotoxin in February 2009.
Boniadi has also landed supporting roles in several major Hollywood film productions, such as Charlie Wilson's War
directed by Mike Nichols
, Iron Man
directed by Jon Favreau
, and The Next Three Days
directed by Paul Haggis
.
In February 2011, she debuted as Nora, a love interest for Neil Patrick Harris's
character Barney Stinson
, on the sixth season of the hit CBS
sitcom How I Met Your Mother
.
She reprised this role during the show's seventh season.
In November 2011, Boniadi appeared opposite George Clooney
in a European spot for Nespresso, called The Swap, directed by Grant Heslov
.
(AIUSA), and has worked at a grassroots level and appeared on numerous international TV and radio programs to campaign for the rights of disenfranchised populations across the world. In particular, she has been very involved in safeguarding human rights by participating in events that bring attention to the unjust conviction and treatment of Iranian youth, women and prisoners of conscience
.
Boniadi provided a voiceover to AIUSA’s “Power of Words” public service announcement with Morgan Freeman
, which won a Webby Award; campaigned with the organization for the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA); has served as a panelist and emcee for events related to Iranian rights, and spearheaded The Neda Project with AIUSA and indie rock band The Airborne Toxic Event in May/June 2010. She has an official blog on the Amnesty International USA website.
In December 2010, she initiated an Amnesty International petition for Iranian film directors Jafar Panahi
and Mohammad Rasoulof, who were convicted of “propaganda against the state”. The petition was co-signed by prominent Hollywood directors and industry leaders such as Paul Haggis
, Martin Scorsese
, Sean Penn
, Harvey Weinstein
, Ron Howard
and others, and generated over 21,000 signatures. On June 8, 2011, Boniadi joined a delegation of Hollywood luminaries, lead by Haggis and AIUSA Executive Director Larry Cox, to deliver the petition to the Iran Mission to the United Nations in New York.
On June 3, 2011, Boniadi joined Sarah Shourd in a rolling hunger strike in solidarity with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal and wrote an article in support of the Free The Hikers campaign.
On July 11, 2011, Boniadi received the Social Cinema Award at the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival for her human rights work with Amnesty International
.
Early life
Boniadi was born in TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Her parents moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
when she was an infant. She performed violin and ballet as a young girl.
She was educated at a private high school and later moved to the US where she earned a Bachelor's Degree, with Honors, in Biological Sciences from the University of California Irvine. At UCI, she won the Chang Pin-Chun Undergraduate Research Award for molecular research involving cancer treatment and heart transplant rejection. She was also Assistant Editor-in-Chief of MedTimes, UCI's undergraduate medical newspaper.
Acting
Boniadi's first major acting role was as Leyla MirLeyla Mir
Leyla Mir is a fictional character that premiered on the SOAPnet drama series, General Hospital: Night Shift, and crossed over into the parent series General Hospital. She was portrayed by Nazanin Boniadi.- Character History :...
on the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning daytime drama General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
and its SOAPnet spin-off series General Hospital: Night Shift
General Hospital: Night Shift
General Hospital: Night Shift is an American prime time serial that first aired on SOAPnet for a 13-episode run from July 12, 2007 to October 4, 2007. A spin-off of the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital, the show is SOAPnet's first original scripted drama series and follows the nighttime...
, making her the first contract actor to play a Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern character in American daytime television history. She is also the first Iranian-born actress to ever be on contract on an American soap opera.
She was nominated for an NAACP Image Award
NAACP Image Award
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2008 for her role in General Hospital.
Her General Hospital character died from exposure to a biotoxin in February 2009.
Boniadi has also landed supporting roles in several major Hollywood film productions, such as Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
directed by Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
, Iron Man
Iron Man (film)
Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron...
directed by Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau
Jonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreau is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and comedian. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in Rudy, Swingers , Very Bad Things, and The Break-Up. His notable directorial efforts include Elf, Iron Man and its sequel, and Cowboys & Aliens...
, and The Next Three Days
The Next Three Days
The Next Three Days is a 2010 thriller film directed by Paul Haggis and starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. It was released in the United States on November 19, 2010 and was filmed on location in Pittsburgh...
directed by Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis
Paul Edward Haggis is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director. He spent his early career producing and directing various American and Canadian television network series.-Early life and education:...
.
In February 2011, she debuted as Nora, a love interest for Neil Patrick Harris's
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
character Barney Stinson
Barney Stinson
Barnabas "Barney" Stinson is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris. The character has been extremely well received by critics and has been credited for much of the show's success...
, on the sixth season of the hit CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
.
She reprised this role during the show's seventh season.
In November 2011, Boniadi appeared opposite George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
in a European spot for Nespresso, called The Swap, directed by Grant Heslov
Grant Heslov
Grant Heslov is an American actor, film producer, screenwriter and director.-Early life:Heslov was born in Los Angeles, into a Jewish family and was raised in the Palos Verdes area of Los Angeles. He attended Palos Verdes High School, the University of Southern California along with friend Tate...
.
Activism
Boniadi is an Official Spokesperson for Amnesty International USAAmnesty International USA
Amnesty International USA is one of many country sections that make up Amnesty International worldwide.Amnesty International is an organization of more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, with complete independence from government, corporate or national...
(AIUSA), and has worked at a grassroots level and appeared on numerous international TV and radio programs to campaign for the rights of disenfranchised populations across the world. In particular, she has been very involved in safeguarding human rights by participating in events that bring attention to the unjust conviction and treatment of Iranian youth, women and prisoners of conscience
Prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...
.
Boniadi provided a voiceover to AIUSA’s “Power of Words” public service announcement with Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
, which won a Webby Award; campaigned with the organization for the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA); has served as a panelist and emcee for events related to Iranian rights, and spearheaded The Neda Project with AIUSA and indie rock band The Airborne Toxic Event in May/June 2010. She has an official blog on the Amnesty International USA website.
In December 2010, she initiated an Amnesty International petition for Iranian film directors Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker and is one of the most influential filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave movement. He has gained recognition from film theorists and critics worldwide and received numerous awards including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the Silver Bear at the...
and Mohammad Rasoulof, who were convicted of “propaganda against the state”. The petition was co-signed by prominent Hollywood directors and industry leaders such as Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis
Paul Edward Haggis is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director. He spent his early career producing and directing various American and Canadian television network series.-Early life and education:...
, Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
, Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
and others, and generated over 21,000 signatures. On June 8, 2011, Boniadi joined a delegation of Hollywood luminaries, lead by Haggis and AIUSA Executive Director Larry Cox, to deliver the petition to the Iran Mission to the United Nations in New York.
On June 3, 2011, Boniadi joined Sarah Shourd in a rolling hunger strike in solidarity with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal and wrote an article in support of the Free The Hikers campaign.
On July 11, 2011, Boniadi received the Social Cinema Award at the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival for her human rights work with Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
.
Filmography
| Television | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | The Game | Josie | 2 Episodes |
| General Hospital: Night Shift General Hospital: Night Shift General Hospital: Night Shift is an American prime time serial that first aired on SOAPnet for a 13-episode run from July 12, 2007 to October 4, 2007. A spin-off of the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital, the show is SOAPnet's first original scripted drama series and follows the nighttime... |
Leyla Mir Leyla Mir Leyla Mir is a fictional character that premiered on the SOAPnet drama series, General Hospital: Night Shift, and crossed over into the parent series General Hospital. She was portrayed by Nazanin Boniadi.- Character History :... |
13 Episodes | |
| 2007–2009 | General Hospital General Hospital General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns.... |
Leyla Mir Leyla Mir Leyla Mir is a fictional character that premiered on the SOAPnet drama series, General Hospital: Night Shift, and crossed over into the parent series General Hospital. She was portrayed by Nazanin Boniadi.- Character History :... |
119 Episodes |
| 2010 | The Deep End The Deep End (TV series) The Deep End is an American television series created by David Hemingson and produced by 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC television network... |
Heather Mosson | Episode: "To Have and to Hold" |
| 24 24 (TV series) 24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration... |
Blonde Woman | 2 Episodes | |
| Hawthorne Hawthorne (TV series) Hawthorne is an hour-long medical drama on the TNT television network starring Jada Pinkett Smith and Michael Vartan. It premiered on June 16, 2009. On Thursday, September 16, 2010 it was announced that Hawthorne has been renewed for a third season consisting of 10 episodes... |
Aneesa Amara | Episode: "Final Curtain" | |
| 2011 | Suits Suits (TV series) Suits is a USA Network television drama series starring Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams. The 12-episode first season debuted on June 23, 2011, with a 90-minute premiere. It was renewed for a second season of 16 episodes on August 11, 2011, expected to premiere in Summer 2012.- Overview :Mike... |
Lauren Pearl | Episode: "Errors and Omissions" |
| 2011 | How I Met Your Mother How I Met Your Mother How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting... |
Nora | 9 Episodes |
| Film | |||
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Kal: Yesterday & Tomorrow | Simmi | Short Film |
| 2007 | Gameface | Taylor | |
| 2008 | Charlie Wilson's War Charlie Wilson's War Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their... |
Afghan Refugee Woman | Uncredited |
| Iron Man Iron Man (film) Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron... |
Amira Ahmed | ||
| 2009 | Diplomacy | Persian Interpreter | Short Film |
| 2010 | The Next Three Days The Next Three Days The Next Three Days is a 2010 thriller film directed by Paul Haggis and starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. It was released in the United States on November 19, 2010 and was filmed on location in Pittsburgh... |
Elaine | |
| 2012 | Shirin in Love | Shirin | |