NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
Movies
Ben-Hur, Zoolander 2, Desert Dancer, Shirin in Love, The Next Three Days, Shades of Ray, Iron Man, Hotel Mumbai, Diplomacy
TV Shows
General Hospital: Night Shift, Homeland
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Fact
1
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.
2
She was selected as a Term Member by the Council on Foreign Relations in 2014.
3
Boniadi changed her career path from medicine and started pursuing acting in 2006.
4
She is a human rights activist and served a spokesperson for Amnesty International USA from 2009 until 2015. She continues to partner with the organization as an Artist of Conscience. She joined the Board of Directors at the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in October 2015.
5
Completed an intensive course in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2009.
6
Fluent in both English and Farsi.
7
She graduated with Honors from the University of California Irvine, where she received a Bacholor's Degree in Biological Sciences.
8
She is the great great granddaughter of famed 19th Century Persian Philosopher and poet Safi Ali Shah.
9
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.
$2 Million
