Homayoun Ershadi

Acting

Homayoun Ershadi

Born 1947-03-26 · Isfahan, Iran

Homayoun Ershadi, sometimes spelled Homayon Ershadi (May 26th, 1947 - November 11th, 2025), was an Iranian actor. Ershadi was born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1947. He studied architecture in Italy and worked in that field. Acclaimed Iranian New Wave director Abbas Kiarostami chose him to play the leading role in Taste of Cherry. A non-professional actor, who started acting in his middle age, he has had immediate success in both cinema and television, with his expressionless, relaxed face and monotonous voice often giving his characters an intellectual personality. Most recently, he can be seen in the movie The Kite Runner, playing the role of Baba. He is one of the few Iran-based Iranian actors who are permitted to act in Western movies. He currently resides in Karaj, Iran.

Acting credits

Zero Dark Thirty poster
7.0

A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May, 2011.

Zero Dark Thirty

2012

A Most Wanted Man poster
6.5

A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg and becomes a person of interest for a covert government team tracking the movements of potential terrorists.

A Most Wanted Man

2014

Agora poster
7.0

A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria and her relationship with her slave Davus, who is torn between his love for her and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.

Agora

2009

The Kite Runner poster
7.3

After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

The Kite Runner

2007

Taste of Cherry poster
7.7

A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.

Taste of Cherry

1997

Hattrick poster
4.8

Four friends run over something after a party in this psychological thriller set in Iran of the empty lives of the middle class when they get together in groups, emotional explosions start happening along moral fault lines.

Hattrick

2018

The Sinners poster
6.0

Two homicide detectives investigates the murder of a woman ...

The Sinners

2013

Life with Closed Eyes poster
7.5

No synopsis available yet.

Life with Closed Eyes

2010

Lina poster
NR

Maryam finds out that her parents are not her biological parents.

Lina

2017

The Last Inhabitant poster
6.0

In an Armenian village, evicted as a result of the Armenian-Azeri conflict, Abgar stays behind all alone in a gradually shrinking enemy ring. He is waiting for his daughter, who became a witness to her husband's murder by an angry mob and was hospitalized with a mental disorder. An Azeri named Ibrahim offers Abgar to work on the construction of a mosque and promises to find and bring Abgar's daughter instead... A few days later, Ibrahim finds the girl, named Yurga, in one of the psychiatric hospitals of Baku and brings her to Abgar. Abgar wants to leave the village with his daughter, but his skills as a stonemason are still needed for the construction of a new mosque. Abgar realizes that this work in the Azerbaijani village will be endless and realizes that he's been trapped.

The Last Inhabitant

2016

The Wet Dream poster
8.0

16 year-old Arash is reaching puberty. After years of living with his mother, he leaves her to live with his father. Once there, he visits a girl who changes his life.

The Wet Dream

2006

Facing Mirrors poster
6.1

Rana has chosen a path in order to support her family, while Adineh (Eddie) has fled his home and city to escape his complicated situation as a transsexual man prevented from living as his true self by his family. They find themselves on the same journey and caused to know each other in a better way.

Facing Mirrors

2012

A 5 Star poster
5.5

A story about a poor girl working in a 5 star hotel in tehran and the workers of the hotel when somthing priceless will stolen...

A 5 Star

2014

Ali and Nino poster
6.5

Muslim prince Ali and Georgian aristocrat Nino have grown up in the Russian province of Azerbaijan. Their tragic love story sees the outbreak of the First World War and the world’s struggle for Baku’s oil. Ultimately they must choose to fight for their country’s independence or for each other.

Ali and Nino

2016

Blue Like the Sky poster
NR

A documentary about the history of Esteghlal F.C. From Docharkheh savaran to Taj, to Esteghlal.

Blue Like the Sky

2019

Cheque poster
5.0

Despite their different characters and beliefs, four persons are obliged to spend two nights and one whole day together as they are going to have their shares after cashing a check.

Cheque

2012

No Choice poster
5.0

A young homeless girl supports herself as a surrogate mother for money. A human rights attorney tries to help her change her life, but ithe challenges seem insurmountable. This is a rarely seen side of Iranian society.

No Choice

2020

Disturbant poster
4.5

An unknown woman disturbs the marriage of a cinema superstar.

Disturbant

2002

The Fifth Reaction poster
5.8

Fereshteh loses her home and her two sons after her husband's accidental death when Hadj Safdar, her stubborn and powerful father-in-law, forces her to return to her parents. She is faced with the loss of her visitation rights when Hadj plans to send his grandchildren to live in a remote town. With the help of her circle of women friends she tries to take them beyond his reach, but in a patriarchal society it is hard to find a safe haven.

The Fifth Reaction

2003

Mohey poster
5.0

Mohey is separated from her twin sister and abused after she is plucked from an orphanage as a girl. She becomes trapped in a life of underhand dealings and illegal trading, where her intellect and beauty are used as commodities. When she is coerced into a temporary marriage to secure a deal...

Mohey

2017

The Pear Tree poster
6.8

Mahmoud is suffering from writer's block and he is unable to continue the book he is currently working upon. He decides to take a break from his routine life and plans to visit his family's rural estate that is situated at north of Tehran. He also intends to complete his book in this visit. While at the estate, Mahmoud's attention is brought to the old Pear Tree that is situated behind the estate by the old gardener of the estate. Seeing the Pear Tree, Mahmoud thinks about his past - his infatuation towards his 14-year-old female cousin known only as M, his adolescent dreams, how that changed over the years. The rest of the film chronicles thoughts of Mahmoud and his past.

The Pear Tree

1998

The Queen poster
NR

During the war between Iran and Iraq, a scout (Milad Keymaram), in the Abadan Oil Refinery, tries to reveal geographical coordinates of Iraqi soldiers' ambushes for Iranian army forces to kill them easily by bombardments. Meanwhile, he confronts with the soul of the previous killed scout (Mostafa Zamani) who did the same which makes a challenge for him, between his own human deep feelings and killing innocent people of enemy ...

The Queen

2012

Apparition poster
2.0

A drunken, boorish general tyrannises his wife and his maid. When the wife discovers that her husband and the maid are having an affair, she turns the maid out of the house, little realising that the young woman is pregnant with the general's child. Years later, the general is dead, and a younger generation has risen with a new outlook on life and new problems to face... This flamboyantly stylised melodrama, loosely adapted from Ibsen, is the newest work by one of the legendary figures of Iran's New Wave.

Apparition

2014

Laleh poster
5.0

Laleh is a true story of a young woman in post-revolution Iran, struggling against all odds to break through in one of the most male dominated sports worldwide.

Laleh

2022