---
name: "Homayoun Ershadi"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/homayoun-ershadi"
fi1m_id: "homayoun-ershadi"
imdb_id: "nm0259831"
tmdb_id: 117528
wikidata_id: "Q1027475"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "26 March 1947"
died: "11 November 2025"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-01T19:59:21.997381+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Homayoun Ershadi

## Identity

Homayoun Ershadi

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/homayoun-ershadi
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** homayoun-ershadi
- **IMDb ID:** nm0259831
- **TMDB ID:** 117528
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1027475
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homayoun_Ershadi, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1027475, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259831/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/117528

Actor. Born 26 March 1947 in Isfahan, Iran. Died 11 November 2025.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 26 March 1947, Isfahan, Iran
- **Died:** 11 November 2025
- **Active:** 1997–2012
- **Also known as:** Homayon Ershadi
- **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 86 (1), 2000s 63 (2), 2010s 80 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 73 to 68 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Adventure 1, History 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $246m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homayoun_Ershadi, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1027475, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259831/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/117528

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Taste of Cherry*](https://film.one/film/taste-of-cherry.md) (86)
- **Netflix:** [*Agora*](https://film.one/film/agora.md) (66)
- **Pluto TV:** [*The Kite Runner*](https://film.one/film/the-kite-runner.md) (60)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Homayoun Ershadi

> Homayoun Ershadi could keep us concerned about a man who offered little explanation of himself. His restraint makes *Taste of Cherry* deeply moving, though there are stretches when we need more than he chooses to give.

In *Taste of Cherry* (1997), Homayoun Ershadi drives around Tehran as Mr Badii, looking for someone to bury him after his planned suicide. Ershadi plays him with a reserve that makes us wait for an explanation. Abbas Kiarostami lets the conversations recur, so we have time to consider both the request and the difficulty of answering it. A more demonstrative performance might have settled our feelings before anyone else could speak. Ershadi makes us keep listening.

This was Ershadi’s debut, made after Kiarostami spotted him in traffic and cast him as a non-professional. That history can tempt us to credit the face and forget the performance. What his restraint allows Kiarostami to do is leave Badii’s reasons uncertain without making us indifferent to what happens to him. We were moved by *Taste of Cherry* because Ershadi kept us worried about Badii through conversations that could otherwise have reduced him to a problem to be debated. His contribution is essential to a demanding film we rate highly.

The later work put that quietness to different uses. As Baba in *The Kite Runner* (2007), he played a dignified father figure, a role that brought him wider international recognition. Intellectual and paternal authority were recurring parts of his work in Iranian and Western productions. He also played Aspasius in Alejandro Amenábar’s *Agora* (2009) and Abdullah in Anton Corbijn’s *A Most Wanted Man* (2014). A non-professional debut grew into a career of more than 90 films, with plenty of directors finding a use for his undemonstrative manner.

There is a cost to the reticence we admire. In *Taste of Cherry*, the repeated exchanges can grow frustrating when Ershadi offers so little help with Badii’s motives. We sometimes want an explanation simply to make the prospect of staying beside him less difficult. Yet he gives us enough to care about, and Kiarostami is right to trust him without asking for a more emphatic performance. Start there, with time to listen; it is a poor choice for an evening when patience has already run out.

## Biography

Homayoun Ershadi, also credited as Homayon Ershadi, was an Iranian actor. He was born on 26 March 1947 in Isfahan, Iran, and died on 11 November 2025 in Iran, aged 78.

Ershadi studied architecture at Ca' Foscari University of Venice and worked in that profession before entering acting in middle age. He was discovered by director Abbas Kiarostami while sitting in his car in traffic in Tehran and cast in the leading role of *Taste of Cherry* (1997).

He appeared in international films including *The Kite Runner* (2007) as Baba, *Agora* (2009) as Aspasius, *Zero Dark Thirty* (2012) as Hassan Ghul, *A Most Wanted Man* (2014) as Abdullah, and *Ali and Nino* (2016) as Safar Khan Shirvanshir. Ershadi won a Sepanta Award in 2017 for best actor in a short film.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Zero Dark Thirty* (2012), Fi1m 80, as Hassan Ghul — [page](https://film.one/film/zero-dark-thirty.md)
- *Agora* (2009), Fi1m 66, as Aspasius — [page](https://film.one/film/agora.md)
- *The Kite Runner* (2007), Fi1m 60, as Baba — [page](https://film.one/film/the-kite-runner.md)
- *Taste of Cherry* (1997), Fi1m 86, as Mr. Badii — [page](https://film.one/film/taste-of-cherry.md)

## Complete filmography (60)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Mahoor* (2025), Actor
- *Sky Blue* (2024), Actor
- *Nilgoon* (2024), Actor
- *Schemer* (2023), series, Actor
- *Resembling Madness* (2023), Actor
- *Fragrant* (2023), Actor
- *The Sixth Day* (2022), Actor
- *Laleh* (2022), as Mr. Shahin
- *The Town* (2022), Actor
- *Mahan* (2022), Actor
- *Revision Sentence* (2021), Actor
- *A Bumpy Story* (2021), as Dad / Judge
- *No Choice* (2020), as head of the hospital
- *Blue Like the Sky* (2019), as Narrator
- *Cypress Under Water* (2018), Actor
- *Hattrick* (2018), Actor
- *Waiting for Kiarostami* (2017), as Koroush Sinaki
- *Mohey* (2017), Actor
- *Lina* (2017), as Father
- *Dead End of Trust* (2017), as Sarhang Amiri
- *Calm Breaths* (2017), Actor
- *The Last Inhabitant* (2016), as Ibrahim
- *Ali and Nino* (2016), as Safar Khan Shirvanshir
- *The Little Black Fish* (2015), Actor
- *Utopia* (2015), as Najib
- *Inadvertent* (2014), Actor
- *A Most Wanted Man* (2014), as Abdullah
- *Apparition* (2014), Actor
- *A 5 Star* (2014), as Mirakabadi
- *The Sinners* (2013), as Hajir Khatam
- *Good to Be Back* (2013), as Merati
- *Zero Dark Thirty* (2012), as Hassan Ghul — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/zero-dark-thirty.md)
- *A Simple Love Story* (2012), as Shater Aman
- *Facing Mirrors* (2012), as Mr. Tolooyi
- *Bi Khodahafezi* (2012), Actor
- *The Queen* (2012), Actor
- *Cheque* (2012), as Daryoosh
- *Orange Suit* (2012), Actor
- *Ta Soraya* (2011), series, Actor
- *Principles* (2011), Actor
- *The Turned World* (2011), as Bahrami
- *Beloved Sky* (2011), Actor
- *Life with Closed Eyes* (2010), Actor
- *Aal* (2010), Actor
- *Agora* (2009), as Aspasius — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/agora.md)
- *Shirin* (2009), Actor
- *The Kite Runner* (2007), as Baba — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/the-kite-runner.md)
- *From Afar* (2006), as Doctor
- *Havana File* (2006), Actor
- *The Wet Dream* (2006), Actor
- *Portrait of a Lady Far Away* (2005), Actor
- *Somewhere Else* (2003), Actor
- *The Fifth Reaction* (2003), Actor
- *Disturbant* (2002), Actor
- *Kiarostami in Close up* (2000), as as Self
- *The Pear Tree* (1998), as Mahmoud
- *Taste of Cherry* (1997), as Mr. Badii — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/taste-of-cherry.md)
- *Kakadu* (1995), Actor
- *Shamsolemareh*, series, Actor
- *The Sea and the Flying Fish*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Homayoun Ershadi](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-814940e5ad03.jpg) Homayoun Ershadi — Hamed Malekpour, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Homayoun_Ershadi_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-fea507992970.jpg) Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016) — Armineaghayan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%281%29.jpg/1280px-Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%281%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-57f97435b793.jpg) Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016) — Armineaghayan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%282%29.jpg/1280px-Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%282%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-3f56746888f4.jpg) Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016) — Armineaghayan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%283%29.jpg/1280px-Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%283%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Homayoun Ershadi](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-f7eded31d785.jpg) Homayoun Ershadi — Image via TMDB
- ![Homayoun Ershadi](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-dc6dd0201569.jpg) Homayoun Ershadi — Image via TMDB
- ![Homayoun Ershadi](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-ed5abe81e77a.jpg) Homayoun Ershadi — Image via TMDB
- ![Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-846d076bb42d.jpg) Master Class with Homayoun Ershadi in Yerevan during Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (2016) — Armineaghayan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%284%29.jpg/1280px-Homayoun_Ershadi%2C_ArmAg_%284%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Homayoun Ershadi](https://film.one/media/person/87374/gallery-5a6f498c8987.jpg) Homayoun Ershadi — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/homayoun-ershadi