English actress Nazanin Boniadi will star in Amazon’s highly anticipated Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Set for release in September of this year, Boniadi will play Kari, a strong single-mother and village healer.
Boniadi has appeared in various popular films and tv shows, including the award-winning series Homeland and the critically acclaimed thriller Hotel Mumbai. Alongside her acting career, Boniadi commits her time to activism, furthering the cause for human rights in her native Iran. People Magazine named her one of “25 women changing the world” in 2018.
Nazanin Boniadi breaks into film and television
Boniadi’s first major role came in 2006, where she played Leyla Mir on America’s longest running drama series General Hospital. It made her the very first contract actor to play a Middle Eastern character in American daytime television history. In addition to this, Boniadi also became the first actor born in Iran to ever be on contract for an American soap opera.
From 2008 to 2010, Boniadi appeared in a string of major Hollywood films, including Charlie Wilson’s War, Iron Man and The Next Three Days. She also appeared in hugely popular television series How I Met Your Mother and seasons 3 and 4 of Homeland. For this she shared a nomination from the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance for an Ensemble Cast.
Boniadi’s career has also seen her play Esther, the love interest of the title-character in the 2016 remake of Ben Hur. It fulfilled a lifetime ambition for her: “It was on my bucket list to do a period piece set in that era. I feel really connected to antiquity for some reason,” she says.
Boniadi also starred alongside Dev Patel and Armie Hammer in the film Hotel Mumbai about the 2008 Mumbai attacks. For her role, Boniadi received a nomination for Best Actress at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.
Nazanin Boniadi: origins and activism
Born in Iran, Boniadi moved to the UK with her family as political refugees after the 1979 revolution. Her parents feared the new regime’s oppressive attitude towards girls and women. She went to school in Hampstead, London. Then, she earned her bachelor’s in biological sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Following this, she won the Chang Pin-Chun Undergraduate Research Award for molecular research involving cancer treatment and heart transplant rejection.
All set for a medical career, Boniadi decided to take a risk and follow her acting dreams. In 2009, she attended the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, studying contemporary drama. Alongside her acting, Boniadi commits herself to activism, centering around the issue of human rights. She sat on the Board of Directors at the Center for Human Rights in Iran for six years.
Now an ambassador for Amnesty International, Boniadi won the 2011 Social Cinema Award at the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival for her work there. She also serves as a lifetime member for the Council on Foreign Relations, a highly influential US think tank.
Nazanin Boniadi in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Boniadi now stars in the eagerly awaited Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series takes place in the Second Age of Middle Earth: thousands of years before Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Amazon bought the rights for the Lord of the Rings for $250 million in 2017. Since then, they have made a production commitment worth at least $1billion. This makes it the most expensive television series ever made.
Set for release on the 2nd September this year, Boniadi plays the role of Kari. Thus far, Amazon has been very secretive with any details about the show. However, we do know a few things about Boniadi’s character. A strong, independent, charming and beautiful woman, Kari works as the village healer. This self-sufficient single mother is soon torn between her boy, her people, and a secret lover whom her village would never accept.
Check out a trailer for the show here and follow Nazanin Boniadi on Twitter for all her latest activist and film-related news.
