BONES: Shohreh Aghdashloo on Her Connection to Mrs. Vaziri, Working with Pej Vahdat and Tamara Taylor, and More
April 11, 2014 by Marisa Roffman
Filed under #1 featured, Bones
BONES viewers have been getting to know squintern Arastoo since his season 4 introduction, but in light of his serious relationship with Cam, his parents will finally be introduced in Monday’s brand new episode, “The Cold in the Case.” And in the tradition of BONES characters being given incredible actors/performers to portray their parents (Ryan O’Neal, Billy Gibbons, and Joanna Cassidy), the series recruited Emmy-winner/Academy Award-nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo to play Arastoo’s mother.
“They approached me [for the role],” Aghdashloo (Deena Vaziri) shared of getting involved with the Fox series. “My agents called me and told me I had an offer, and I went, ‘I like that show, let me read it’ — I’m very particular about my work, so I have to read it before [accepting things] — and I’m reading it and the first thing I see is [her name is] Mrs. Vaziri?…I was so overwhelmed with the name of my character, because the character’s [last name] is my real family name. My parents didn’t allow me to become an actor, so I got married first, and I used my first husband’s family name to become an actor.”
“I get to the set, and I told the director [Milan Cheylov], whom every actor would give a leg and an arm to work with — I enjoyed working with him and everybody so much — and I said, ‘Milan! Did you know my real family name is Vaziri?'” she continued. “And he went, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ And I said, ‘Honest to God. My [last name I was born with] is Vaziri, but I’ve used Aghdashloo professionally.’ So the character felt familiar.”
And while Arastoo is wary of what his mother’s intentions might be in wanting to meet Cam, Aghdashloo could relate to the protectiveness she got to display as Deena.
