# Narges Rashidi

Narges Rashidi (Persian: نرگس رشیدی; born 1980) is an American-German actress of Iranian descent.

## Early life

Rashidi was born in Tehran, Iran. Her father was an army colonel and her mother is a housewife. She lived in Tehran at the time of the Iran–Iraq War.
Rashidi moved with her family to Turkey and then Germany when she was seven. She grew up in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. She was introduced to acting by the summer theatre festivals in the town.

## Career

Rashidi has appeared in many independent films and television productions, starting with the experimental film Venussian Tabutasco by Daryush Shokof in 2004.
Rashidi received international recognition and widespread acclaim for her starring role in the 2016 film Under the Shadow by Babak Anvari, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Variety cited her as "a favorite breakthrough performance" at Sundance. The magazine hailed her "intense yet fine-grained work... as a fiercely intelligent, progressive-minded Iranian woman infuriated by the direction of her country since the Islamic Revolution," noting, "Rashidi plays her character like a musical instrument going slowly out of tune; it's a performance rich in both motherly love and scream-queen abandon."
Rashidi plays Lale in the 2020 British TV series Gangs of London. In June 2024, Deadline Hollywood reported that Rashidi had been cast alongside Joseph Fiennes in a BBC drama as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard Ratcliffe.

## Personal life

Rashidi lives in Los Angeles. She is married to Christian Straka, a former professional tennis player. She speaks Persian and German.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2004 | Venussian Tabutasco | | |
| 2005 | Aeon Flux | Pregnant Woman | |
| 2006 | Asudem | Girl | |
| 2006 | A2Z | | |
| 2006 | Black Sheep | Leo's Girlfriend | |
| 2007 | Breathful | Fuss | |
| 2008 | Speed Racer | Persian Announcer | |
| 2009 | Meeting Laura | Narges | Short film |
| 2009 | Must Love Death | Isabel | |
| 2010 | NOS (auf dich) | Vina | Short film |
| 2011 | Dating Lanzelot | Zibaa | |
| 2011 | My Prince. My King | Fatima | |
| 2012 | Slave | Nurse | |
| 2013 | Kokowääh 2 | Verkäuferin | |
| 2015 | Von glücklichen Schafen | Elmas / mother | |
| 2016 | Under the Shadow | Shideh | |
| 2017 | Tigermilch | Noura Bashir | |
| 2019 | The Manchador | Mina | Short film |
| 2025 | Havoc | | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Die Geschichte Mitteldeutschlands | Orientalische Frau des Grafen von Gleichen | Episode: "Ehe zu dritt - Die Frauen des Grafen von Gleichen" |
| 2007 | KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst | Nuran | Episode: "Fragen der Ehre" |
| 2008 | Schimanski | Laura | Episode: "Schicht im Schacht" |
| 2009 | Engel sucht Liebe | Ayse | TV movie |
| 2012 | Ein Fall für zwei | Ayshe | Episode: "Mord im Callcenter" |
| 2012 | Geisterfahrer [de] | Faiza | TV movie |
| 2013 | Nachtschicht | Dalida Abdullah | Episode: "Geld regiert die Welt" |
| 2014–2015 | Löwenzahn | Banu | 4 episodes |
| 2015 | Sibel & Max | Elif | Episode: "Schief gewickelt" |
| 2015 | Too Young to Die [de] | Dalida Medjoub | TV movie |
| 2016–2018 | Never Too Late For Justice | Samira Vaziri | 22 episodes |
| 2017 | The Girlfriend Experience | Darya Esford | 5 episodes |
| 2017 | Reich oder tot | Dalida Medjoub | TV movie |
| 2019 | Anatomy of Evil | Leila Nymann | Episode: "Sehnsucht" |
| 2019 | Hanna | Sima | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Gangs of London | Lale | 7 episodes |

## Awards

* Best Breakthrough Actress award, A2Z, New York Independent International Film & Video Festival, 2007.