Rahavard Farahani (Persian: رهاورد فراهانی; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (گلشیفته فراهانی), is an Iranian actress. She gained recognition for her performances in The Pear Tree (1998), which won her the Best Actress award at the Fajr International Film Festival, Half Moon (2006), which won the Golden Shell award at the 2006 San Sebastián Film Festival, and M for Mother (2006), which won her a Roshd International Film Festival award and was chosen to represent Iran in the Best Foreign Film Category of that year's Academy Awards.
She appeared in a supporting role in the American film Body of Lies (2008), which stirred controversy in Iran, making her the first Iranian in a Hollywood production since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979. Subsequently, she was banned from working in Iran by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance for not wearing a headscarf and eventually exiled. Since then, she had been based in Paris until November 2017, when she moved to Ibiza.
Her later work spans Iranian, European, Israeli, and American productions, including About Elly (2009), The Patience Stone (2012), for which she won a Best Actress award at the Gijón International Film Festival, and was nominated for Most Promising Actress at the 39th César Awards, and Two Friends (2015), for which she was nominated for Best Female Revelation at the 21st Lumière Awards. She has also appeared in Paterson (2016), The Song of Scorpions (2017), Girls of the Sun (2018), Extraction (2020) and its sequel (2023), as well as the television series Invasion (2021–present) and Alpha (2025). She also starred in two Israeli films directed by Eran Riklis: Shelter (2017) and Reading Lolita in Tehran (2024).
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Early life
Farahani was born in Tehran, Iran, to Behzad Farahani, a theatre director and actor, and stage actress Fahimeh Rahiminia. Her sister is actress Shaghayegh Farahani. The name Golshifteh was invented by her father and means 'loving flower', whereas her legal name is Rahavard, and means 'gift of the road'.
She began studying music and piano at the age of five, and later entered a music school in Tehran. At 14, she was cast as the lead in Dariush Mehrjui's The Pear Tree, a role for which she won the Crystal Roc for Best Actress from the International Section of the 16th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.
Career
Farahani starred in the drama About Elly, which won Best Picture at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Due to her appearance in the Hollywood movie Body of Lies, seen by Iranian authorities as a collaboration with American propaganda and a violation of Islamic law due to Farahani's appearance without hijab, she has not been allowed to return and work in Iran since 2009, and has since resided in France.
Since moving to Paris, she has worked with directors Roland Joffé, Huner Saleem, Marjane Satrapi, Jim Jarmusch, Neil Burger and Julia Ducournau among others, and has been a member of the international jury at the 13th Marrakech International Film Festival, which was presided by Martin Scorsese. Farahani starred in The Patience Stone (2012), directed by Atiq Rahimi from his novel; it was favorably received by most reviewers. She also starred in a 2012 César Award video in the Most Promising Actors category.
In 2016, Farahani played Anna Karenina on stage in Paris and received laudatory reviews. She also played the lead role of Laura in director Jim Jarmusch's American feature film Paterson, opposite actor Adam Driver. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, scoring 96% approval on the movie site Rotten Tomatoes.
In 2017, she appeared in the fantasy film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales as the sea witch Shansa.
In 2020, she was in the action film Extraction as Nik Khan. In 2023, Farahani was selected as a member of the main completion jury at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2025, she led Julia Ducournau's latest film Alpha which premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
Non-film work
Farahani is involved in environmental causes, and is an advocate for the eradication of tuberculosis in Iran.
In Iran, she was a member of Kooch Neshin (Nomads), a band that won the 2nd Tehran Avenue underground rock competition. Since leaving Iran, she has teamed up with another exiled Iranian musician, Mohsen Namjoo; their album Oy was released in October 2009.
In December 2014, she took 6th place in the annual Independent Critics Beauty List of 2014.
Farahani, who has been exiled from Iran since 2008 for refusing to wear a hijab while acting in international films, has publicly supported the Mahsa Amini protests. On 28 October 2022, British rock band Coldplay invited Farahani to perform with them a cover of Shervin Hajipour's Baraye, which has been described as "the anthem" of the protests, at the band's concert at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. The concert was broadcast live to over 3,500 theatres worldwide in more than 70 countries as part of a two-night-only live-event cinema special during the Latin America leg of the band's Music of the Spheres World Tour.
Public image
After Farahani's appearance in the U.S. film Body of Lies, it was reported that Iranian government authorities had prevented her from leaving Iran. This was denied by her colleagues, and she appeared at the movie's American premiere. Her last film performance in Iran was in About Elly directed by Asghar Farhadi.
In January 2012, it was reported that Farahani would not be welcome in her native Iran after posing nude in the French magazine Madame Figaro. According to Britain's Daily Telegraph, Iranian government officials told her, "Iran does not need actors or artists like you. You may offer your artistic services somewhere else." A picture from the shoot on her Facebook page initiated a lively debate about her behavior. She also appeared topless in a short black-and-white film by Jean-Baptiste Mondino called Corps et Âmes (Bodies and Souls). She also posed for fully nude photographs taken by Paolo Roversi for an Égoïste cover and editorial.
In May 2026, a scandal was reported about an alleged affair between her and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron. A correspondence between the two allegedly led to commotion between the President and his wife, the cause of which staff of the Elysee Palace has denied.
In January 2025, Iranian media outlets including Tabnak published reports alleging that Farahani had communicated with IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani prior to his death. The reports cited statements attributed to Soleimani's daughter claiming that Farahani expressed admiration for Soleimani and sought his assistance regarding personal matters. The claims received attention on social media and political commentary platforms, though they were disputed by critics and were not independently verified by major international media organizations.
Criticism of Iran
Farahani is known for her criticism of the Iranian government, specifically addressing the restrictive policies of women's rights and artistic freedom. She has often expressed this in interviews and social media posts, talking against the country's mandatory hijab laws and the suppression of female voices in the arts. As the 2025-2026 Iranian protests erupted, she spoke about the internet blackout in Iran, stating that international coverage of the violence in Iran will enable “the Iranian people who are risking their lives for their freedom [to] feel supported and not feel their sacrifice will be in silence.”
Personal life
In 2003, Farahani married Amin Mahdavi, the brother of interior designer India Mahdavi, and from whom she later separated. She was also in a relationship with French actor Louis Garrel, who directed and co-starred with her in Two Friends (2015). In a September 2015 interview published in Grazia, Farahani revealed that she had married Christos Dorje Walker, an Australian, five months earlier. In May 2018, she was in a relationship with a "German hippie" whom she met in the Nevada desert at the Burning Man festival.
Exiled from Iran
In 2008, before the release of Ridley Scott's Body of Lies, Farahani was placed under a travel ban. After the release, she was reportedly banned from working by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance following her appearance without a headscarf at the film's New York premiere. Upon her return to Iran, it was reported that the ayatollahs took her passport away as further punishment. When asked about being "forced into exile", Farahani suggested that the authorities initially "had no big issue" with her. However, when she wanted to travel to the U.K., her passport was seized as the authorities expressed concern that "she would be used as an Iranian symbol by the West." The judge in charge argued that authorities had to watch Body of Lies before sentencing her. Eventually, she was handed back her passport and told "she had to leave Iran as soon as possible." She fled to France after being fined around €2 million. Shortly after, she spoke out from Paris in support of the failed Iranian Green Movement and was told "not to return to Iran." In 2012, following her appearance in a short black-and-white video to promote the César Awards, where she revealed her right breast, she was exiled as a result. In November 2017, after living in Paris for eight years, she moved to Ibiza, splitting her time between there and Porto, Portugal. She had previously indicated her intent to leave France, explaining that she was severely impacted by the bureaucracy and banking system.
