INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

‘Star Trek Beyond’ Gets Major Boost With Addition Of Amazing Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo

By Colin Fredericson
Published on: 12:42 PST, Mar 12, 2016

Star Trek Beyond has been derided from its first trailer. But Star Trek Beyond producers aren’t complacent with all the early criticism. They are currently reshooting scenes with the addition of a new character, played by award winning actress Shohreh Aghdashloo. Her unique voice and screen presence is likely to push the drama into territory more traditional Star Trek fans will enjoy.

Aghdashloo is rumored to play the High Command of the Federation, a role likely to see her at the top. It’s not yet clear how much she will be featured, but she is likely to bring balance and reverse the perceived rock and roll direction taken by director Justin Lin. Lin is also the most prominent director with The Fast and the Furious series of films.

Star Trek reboot hopefuls were worried Star Trek Beyond would bring the young franchise reboot down. J.J. Abrams had moved on to Star Wars, though he remains in a production role for this movie. But the early reactions to the movie’s tone and direction likely led to panic at the studio. Aghdashloo may be the remedy.

Shohreh Aghdashloo brings maturity and strong acting chops with her. She is the Iranian-American actress that won an Emmy for the BBC and HBO project House of Saddam. She received an Oscar nomination for her role in House of Sand and Fog, starring alongside Ben Kingsley. In another powerful role, she won an award for her role in The Stoning of Soraya M. Like this movie, a lot of her work cannot be seen in her birth country, Iran, due to censorship.

Aghdashloo explained during an intuerview with Backstage her life-long, no nonsense, serious approach she takes to acting.

“I don’t see how some actors can say that ‘I want to quit.’ For me, there is no quit. You are either an actor or you are not. This is not a lifestyle. This is what you are born with.”

She further stressed this concept in an interview on PBS. When asked by Tavis Smiley why she has always felt the need to stay involved with the arts, Shohreh explained how it started for her.

“I was born an actress. Since I was four or five years old I mocked each and every member of the family. After a while it turned entertaining and sort of nice for my parents and family.”

That doesn’t mean that her family understood her draw to the arts or supported her love of acting. Nonetheless, she met with growing success both in Iran and abroad.

As far as taking on a role in a science fiction franchise, Shohreh has shown diversity throughout her career. A Star Trek role is just as fitting as any other for an actress with such diverse talents. She currently stars in The Expanse, a space drama on Syfy, as an intergalactic politician. Shohreh has also already written a book about her life and career, The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines. Besides having an acting career which spans from the mid 70s, she escaped Iran during the Iranian Revolution before traveling to England, and then into America to continue her acting career and become a citizen.

Besides this third Star Trek reboot installment, a new TV series is scheduled to follow. If the movies aren’t everything fans hoped for, they still have the small screen to look forward to. As Cinema Blend reports, the CBS Star Trek TV series will begin airing in 2017, and will be a highlight for CBS and its CBS All Access streaming service.

Star Trek Beyond and Shohreh Aghdashloo will be in theaters by July 22.

[Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images]

Share this article: ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Gets Major Boost With Addition Of Amazing Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo
More from Inquisitr