Homayoun Ershadi (1947–2025)

About همایون ارشادی

Homayoun Ershadi (1947–2025) was an Iranian actor whose screen career began by chance in his late forties. Born in Isfahan, he went to school in Abadan, then studied architecture in Venice and graduated in 1970. He worked as an architect in Iran and later lived in Vancouver, Canada, for about a decade after the revolution before returning to Iran around 1990.

Discovered by Kiarostami

Back in Tehran, Ershadi was spotted by Abbas Kiarostami while he sat in his car in traffic. After getting to know him, Kiarostami cast him as the lead in Taste of Cherry. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1997, and Ershadi's understated performance drew wide attention. A year later Dariush Mehrjui cast him in The Pear Tree. His international work included Alejandro Amenábar's Agora, The Kite Runner (2007) and Zero Dark Thirty. In Iran he continued to act in films such as Ali Mosaffa's Portrait of a Lady Far Away. He died in November 2025.

On Pardeh

Five of his films are available here:
- The Pear Tree (Derakht-e Golabi, 1998), Mehrjui's romantic drama
- The Fifth Reaction (Vakonesh-e Panjom, 2002), a social drama
- We're All Sinners (2011), a social drama
- The Little Black Fish (2014), a war drama set in the past
- No Choice (Majboorim, 2020), a drama

The Pear Tree is the best place to begin, made just after Taste of Cherry introduced him to audiences worldwide.

Biographical facts: Wikidata.

Shared cast credits

People credited in the same titles on Pardeh:

• الهام حمیدی · 2 shared titles
• مریلا زارعی · 2 shared titles
• آرام قاسمی · 1 shared title
• آفرین عبیسی · 1 shared title
• آهو خردمند · 1 shared title
• امیر آقایی · 1 shared title