Began acting career, performing in numerous plays with Theater Workshops in Iran

Film debut in the family drama, "Gozaresh (The Report)"; helmed by world renowned director, Abbas Kia-Rostami

Acted in "Shatranje Bad" (loosely translated "Chess With the Wind"); directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani; film was banned in her home country

Appeared in "Sootah Delaan (Heart-brokens)"; helmed by legendary Iranian writer/director, Ali Hatami; film was banned in her home country

Emigrated to Britain, where she completed her education and continued acting in the theater

Acted in Los Angeles stage productions, where she met her future husband

Received International acclaim portraying Ben Kingsley's wife in Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog"; earned a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination

Joined the fourth season of the FOX drama "24" as a member of a terrorist cell

Co-starred with Tom Wilkinson and Laura Linney in "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"

Cast in Paul Weitz's political satire "American Dreamz"

Played Dr. Kavita Rao in the third installment of the "X-Men" series, "X-Men: The Last Stand"

Joined the short-lived CBS crime drama, "Smith"

Cast in Catherine Hardwicke's biblical film "The Nativity Story"

Appeared in the coming-of-age drama "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2"

Portrayed Saddam's first wife in "House of Saddam," a co-production between BBC and HBO films, about the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein

Portrayed the aunt of the film's title character in "The Stoning of Soraya M."; based on the true story and adapted from French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam's 1994 novel of the same name