Picture the statue of a woman. Something huge, she’s bigger than the world, towering over the Earth and pulling it close to her giant bosom. She does not want you to think of her as a goddess, but rather as a protector. This woman isn’t shrewd, but she also doesn’t want you to mistake her kindness for being too soft, too weak. This, Shohreh Aghdashloo explains to me, is the core inspiration behind The Expanse’s Chrisjen Avasarala. This statue, this visage of Mother Earth, is who she envisions when playing the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
“Not only does she care about the people currently living on Earth, she also cares about its resources,” Aghdashloo says. Stern, commanding, and often quite intimidating, Avasarala can be hard to read, but Aghdashloo always goes back to this vision of Mother Earth. Pollution, the climate crisis, and the state of the world itself are amongst Avasarala’s biggest concerns, so Mother Earth is a fitting inspiration. Aghdashloo’s own experiences as a mother often find their way into her roles, guiding her portrayal as she faces challenging decisions when it comes to relations between the people of Earth, Mars, and the Belt.
“I’m a mother myself,” Aghdashloo says. “I have three kids, but I know there are a couple of kids on the street that are hungry. To be honest with you, I would feed my kids first, but I would call the other kids and ask them to share the rest of the food with me. I would ask my children to eat less, so the other children could have a little more or so I can feed more people on the street.”
In The Expanse, we see Aghdashloo bring this mentality to Chrisjen Avasarala as her character struggles with Earth’s tumultuous political climate. After experiencing betrayal and grief, Avasarala is forced to put her personal feelings aside to continue to advocate for the people of the Belt, the supposed “enemies” of Earth, as the politicians around call for their genocide – but in far more insidious terms. The role is complicated, full of political intrigue, but that’s one of the reasons Aghdashloo is drawn to the part.
In our chats, she does not hesitate to bring attention to our age difference and how that ultimately ties into the advice she bestows upon me. When you speak to Shohreh Aghdashloo, it’s hard not to feel like you aren’t also being mentored. “You know, you are very young,” Aghdashloo says. “But when you are older, you look back, and you think about the decisions you’ve made throughout your life. And the best thing is for you to not only be happy, but to be proud to have made those decisions. I was 26 years old when I left revolution [in Iran] behind. I could have easily stayed. I had a comfortable life, a beautiful home, everything at my disposal. I could’ve stayed to see what happened, but instead, I wanted to leave and get myself educated.” And that’s what Aghdashloo did. In the late ‘70s, she left her home in Iran to pursue a degree in political science and international business at Brunel University in the UK.
Aghdashloo’s ambitions once compelled her to chase dreams of “becoming somebody in politics,” but a friend suggested she read a political play in passing. This recommendation is what ultimately led her towards a career in acting. Now, whenever actors ask her for advice, she always tells them “study politics – no matter what the role is, it will help so much with your characters.” She says it would have been impossible for her to understand the roles she’s held without that education, having won an Emmy for her role as Sajida Khairallah Talfah, Saddam Hussein’s first wife, in House of Saddam.
Avasarala pulls from this time period in Aghdashloo’s life, too. As she began her education, Margaret Thatcher became the UK Prime Minister, and she remembers the famous ‘Iron Lady’ speech. Thatcher’s demeanor is channeled into her role as Secretary-General. “I thought, wow, first and foremost,” she says. “I can borrow her stoic face. Stoicism is all about how to keep things to yourself. In today’s world, they call it Poker face. When someone like this is talking to you, you aren’t quite sure what they mean. Is it positive? Is it negative?”
There’s a little of Thatcher in Avasarala, and Aghdashloo has spoken about political roles attracting her to a project before. Ultimately, though, it was The Expanse’s diversity that drew her in. “The Expanse is one of the most diverse TV shows ever,” she says. “I can say that 100 times more because I’ve been in this industry for almost 30 years now, and I have been acting for 48 years, so I have a lot to compare it to.
“20 years ago, I was at an event, and somebody asked me why we don’t see powerful female characters in movies and TV series,” Aghdashloo says. “And I said, we need more powerful women in key positions in real life so we can depict their stories. We all know every country’s television or cinema is a mirror. It’s a reflection of the society, of the country that is exporting that movie or television series.”
“As soon as it began to air on Amazon, I was so happy, I didn’t have to tape them!” She exclaims laughing, noting that it’s far easier to share the series streaming this way. “I didn’t have to tape them for my brother in London, my brother in Honolulu, or my mother in New York. We could just watch it simultaneously together. I was able to do that a couple of times before my mother passed away.” There’s a sadness in her voice, but also, Aghdashloo is proud. “But the core idea of why I’m ever so excited about The Expanse is diversity.”
The Expanse features a cast of women from around the world, and it’s clear Aghdashloo is aware of how meaningful their presence is and what their legacy can be. “When a Middle-Eastern girl, or someone from elsewhere watches me in that series, Frankie [Adams] from New Zealand, [or] Cara [Gee], an Indigenous woman from Canada, she thinks there’s hope for her.”
As well as these actors, British-Dominican talent Dominique Tipper, Thai native Florence Faivre, and American actor Nadine Nicole all add to the show’s diverse cast of women. Not only does Aghdashloo hold a deep admiration for the show’s cast, but she believes in its core message.
“This is a multi-layered, meaningful, profound TV series that is trying to teach the world that they need to treat it better than how they are treating it now,” Aghdashloo warns. “Do not pollute the air, do not contaminate the oceans – these are all lessons we learn when we watch The Expanse. But above all, there’s another lesson that is if these actors from all over the world can make it, you, little girl, will make it.”
It’s that lesson that leads her into talking about experiences with Mass Effect, where she played Tali’s beloved Auntie Raan, Admiral Shala’Raan vas Tonbay. She can recite lines from the role like Mass Effect 2 was still recording, and notes the character as “one of her most favorites, ever.” Much like The Expanse, she notes that Mass Effect tackles socio-political issues, and is fascinated by the ways games broach these topics.
“Every time I run Mass Effect lines or Expanse lines, I hear the similarities,” Aghdashloo says. “I feel, even if the wars are not the same, the meaning or what it’s trying to say is still the same. [Avasarala and Shala’Raan] are both these courageous women who are not afraid of anything. When they feel they have the right thing in mind, there’s nothing that breaks them or makes them retreat.”
Her roles in Mass Effect and later Destiny helped Aghdashloo realize her appreciation for video games as a profound cultural medium. She also mentions she’s currently negotiating another role in a game right now, so we may see her again soon. She can’t say what it is, but it’s “a very famous one,” and that’s as far as she’ll go.
Despite her depth of experience across the 48 years of her career, Avasarala is something of a definitive role for Aghdashloo. It’s clear how all of her influences have led her to this moment as The Expanse goes into its sixth – and possibly final – season. Avasarala is hurt, having lost family, friends, and millions of her people. Betrayed, and holding her inner circle close, the Secretary-General feels like the war has somehow gotten more personal.
There’s a moment when one character accuses Avasarala of being difficult to work with, asserting that she changes her mind too much and no one wants to be around her now. Aghdashloo says one line here always breaks her heart and is very important when thinking about what’s to come for her character, and that’s her plea of, “but I have learned to listen.” Hearing Aghdashloo talk about taking pride in your decisions, you can see the subtle layers that form her character – you can see the statue of Mother Earth.
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