Homayoun Ershadi, the Iranian actor celebrated for his work in Taste of Cherry and The Kite Runner, has passed away at the age of 78. Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that Ershadi died on November
11 after a battle with cancer.
Ershadi’s path to acting was unconventional. Originally an architect, he was nearly 50 when he landed his first major film role in the 1997 Cannes Palme d’Or-winning drama Taste of Cherry. The opportunity arose by chance when a director approached him at a red light in Tehran. Ershadi often recalled the encounter: a tap on his car window led to a man introducing himself and asking, “I want to make a film. Would you like to be in it?”
Born in Isfahan on March 26, 1947, Ershadi spent the 1980s in Vancouver following the Islamic Revolution, working for over a decade at an architectural firm. Upon returning to Iran, he transitioned into acting, and his career quickly gained international attention. In his debut film, he portrayed a man seeking someone to bury him under a cherry tree after his planned suicide, a performance that set the stage for a prolific career spanning more than 90 credits over nearly three decades.
Ershadi’s international recognition grew further with his role as Baba, the father figure in the 2007 adaptation of The Kite Runner, a story of two boys growing up in Kabul in the 1970s. His filmography also included notable international projects such as the historical epic Agora (2009), the military thriller Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and Hassan Nazer’s UK-set drama Utopia (2015), which explored a woman’s journey to the UK for fertility treatment.
May his soul rest in peace!
