#Mehrnaz Mohammadi

[chrisnaustin]

If only I were she!

[blschaos3000-blog]

Its 3:45 pm hazy/humid

Welcome to “8 Questions with……”

One of the coolest things that I have really enjoyed is the complete international flavor of the artists I get to chat with. I now have done over 50 of these interviews and the number of countries that our guests have come from keeps expanding. I have from gone from mostly United States and Great Britain interviews to countries like Romania,Australia,Italy,Egypt,Greece and Germany. To hear and experience other cultures and how they see the world is incredibly enriching to one’s spirit,even if the answers they share aren’t the most cheerful. I rather take raw honesty and openess then fake cheer and a plastic smile,right?

So with this in mind,meet Mehrnaz Mohammadi. Born in Iran and is now living in America where she pursues her dream as a actress. She has overcome many barriers in her short life and its clear in talking with her that she has a fierce independent streak and a thirst for knowledge which used to an American calling card. She is very prolific and has already accomplished so much in such a short time,Mehrnaz is definitely putting in the work to become a success in whatever she chooses to do be it on stage,in front of the camera or calling the shots from behind the scenes. With such a busy schedule,I better dash in and ask my 8 Questions while I still can! I might need some help from Michael,Mehrnaz’s husband to help convince the cheetah to do The Clown School however…….

 Please introduce yourself and tell us about your latest project

My name is Mehrnaz Mohammadi. I’m a Los Angeles based actor and currently, I’m in a production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, one of Brecht’s masterpieces, directed by Stephanie Shoyer at Antaeus Theatre.

 You were born and raised in Iran – what was that like growing up there?

Growing up in Iran was just like growing up anywhere else I guess. The human ability to adapt to any situation is fascinating. I hadn’t experienced living in any other country so I had nothing to compare my life to. But looking back at it now, after experiencing living in other countries, I can say it was hard. I had experienced and seen a lot of injustice. That being said, I did have a rebellious nature. I was a fighter and still am. I was very opinionated and always was trying to find ways to express myself and of course, that got me into a lot of trouble. First time I got arrested, I was fifteen years old. I got arrested because of what I was wearing (a tight baby blue long dress, jeans, and a white scarf that covered my hair) which was considered scandalous, and I was talking to a boy. I spent three nights in a holding cell before my court date. To be honest, part of me was proud of getting arrested even though It was really scary because it meant I was alive and I didn’t accept their oppression.

 How much artistic freedom did you have living in Iran?    Is there an active film community there?

It’s tough being an artist in Iran for sure! Unfortunately or fortunately, I had never got a chance to work as an actor in Iran. I left after I just turned 20 and before that, I had worked as a graphic designer. Not only does the government monitor the artists’ work, but also they censor any work of art from outside of Iran. My major was Graphic design in high school and we had to take art history classes. I studied many Europian painters but I only saw a limited number of their paintings until I left Iran. If there was a naked body or even any body parts in the books, the government would blur out that section of the painting. I never forget my first trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran. There was a painting by Picasso and in the middle of the painting, there was a white paper covering the naked body of a woman. Ridiculous, I know. A year before leaving Iran, I had a chance to be a stage manager. I witnessed first hand the way the government censors. In this particular project, an official popped up in one of the rehearsals and watch the play. Then he gave a piece of paper to the director with his edits and cuts, that’s it. No dialogue, no question, no objection. And you have to do it or you can’t go up for the performance. Not much artistic freedom, but what’s fascinating is that I’ve seen some of the best works of art from Iran from poetry to film making. Because of the censorship, the artists have to find a way to express themselves within the confines of the law, and that’s when the magic happens. You have to that much more creative in order to express yourself truthfully while being able to pass through the filters of government censorship. The art becomes complex, sophisticated and revolutionary.

There is definitely an amazing film community in Iran and their work in fantastic. A filmmaker that particularly stands out is Asghar Farhadi, A Separation (won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film) and The Salesman.

 When did you know you wanted to be an actress? What was the reaction like when you let your family know your goal?

I think I’ve always had a fascination for the art of acting, but in my time in Iran, I didn’t really get a chance to cultivate this desire. My family didn’t really know what to think of it. My mom tried many times to talk me out of pursuing acting. I am the only one in my family that I know of who pursues art and above that acting. It was not familiar to them. Although Persians are famous for their artistic nature, it’s mostly in poetry and music. When it comes to acting, I believe culturally acting is not a respected profession. Where was I, oh yes, my family. They thought it was just a passing aspiration and that it would go away eventually. Now here I am almost a decade later and I’m an actor. Sometimes I wish they supported me at the beginning of my acting career. But they’re supportive now and that means a lot to me.

 What were the three biggest culture shocks when you moved to the United States?

Racism. Gun shootings. Consumerism.

 You have had an amazing start to your career with five projects in 2018 alone How did you land these roles so quickly?

Thank you! When I was in school, I thought when I graduate from acting school, my job is to act. Very quickly I realized that my job is to connect with people and audition and if the stars line up, I get a chance to act. So that’s what I’ve been doing, connecting with filmmakers and auditioning.

 You wrote, produced and directed your first short film “ThisHonest”, can you walk us through how this film came about?

In July 2018, I was chatting with my husband Michael (mostly complaining) about it being a quiet summer in terms of auditioning. He is also an actor. Then we decided to write a short film that we can shoot tomorrow if we wanted. It ended up taking a few months and hours of preparation. When I met my husband, we used to play a game to get to know each other better and see how honest we can be with each other. The game goes like this: we’d ask each other “what’s one thing that’s difficult for you to share with me right now?” Then we had to see if we can bring ourselves to tell the truth. So we wrote about that. We wanted the story to be simple and honest. We sent the script to our dear friend Aaron Alpert, he is a talented cinematographer. He liked the script, we met over coffee, I explained my vision. Then over the month leading up to the shoot, I sent him a storyboard and we went back and forth collaborating on the shots and the way we wanted to tell the story. We met one Saturday morning and shot the whole thing. Since we knew exactly what we wanted and it was all planned out, we did one take for the camera, one take for the actors and that’s it.

 Where do you want to be in three years professionally?

I see myself being a working tv and film actor (isn’t that the dream?), but more than that, I desire to tell my story, be able to bring my flavor, my artwork, the way I see the world. I also see myself directing theatre and indie films. In addition, I’m writing a non-fiction book and in three years I’m hoping it will be done and published.

 What has your college experience been like so far? What have been your three favorites classes and what made them special?

I love learning and I think there is nothing more joyful than being in a classroom. So I’ve been fortunate to have had a wonderful experience with college. I did my undergrad at Concordia University in Montreal. My favorite class was Biomechanics. I got a chance to get to know my body at a very basic level. It was a delight to be reintroduced to my body and I grew a fascination for it, almost like a child discovering her hands and feet. I did my MFA in Acting at USC and my favorite classes were Movement and Text with Andy Robinson and Voice with Natsuko Ohama. These two classes got me in touch with my inner world. They exposed me to my own psyche. In order to learn acting techniques, I had to become aware of the blocks and masks I’d created for myself over the years in order to survive.

What has been the most challenging thing you have encountered and how did you overcome it?

Language. I learned English when I was 20 years old. Language is not just a set of words combined in a correct way, grammar. It has nuances and history. I worked really hard to be able to understand English not only to communicate on a daily basis, but to really understand its soul. Also, because of the nature of the language being an oral way of communication, it’s connected to the voice itself and we all have our history with our voice. I don’t know if I would use the word overcome, but It’s been a journey. The way I approach this challenge is with practicing the language itself on a regular basis and also strengthening my own voice and developing my own authentic sound.

 The cheetah and I are coming to watch you act and direct your newest film but we are a day early and now you are playing tour guide, what are we doing? 

I invite you to my apartment, I cook you a delicious Persian dish and we talk about humanity and philosophize. Then we would go for a hike at Griffith Park because we need to walking after eating all that Persian food.    When we come back, I’ll take you guys to The Clown school to have a day with the clowns. We run around, scream, jump up and down and experience life through the lens of a clown.     We go to Malibu beach, lie down on the sand and look up at the stars and talk about the mysteries of the world.

    I like to say “Thank You” to Mehrnaz for sharing her story and thoughts. I’m very grateful to have gotten a chance to talk with such a deep and interesting soul. I hope you,the reader,also enjoyed getting to know Mehrnaz.

You can follow Mehrnaz on her IMDb page. You callow Mehrnaz on her Twitter page.

Feel free to leave a comment or question below. Thank you for your continued support!

8 Questions with…………actress Mehrnaz Mohammadi Its 3:45 pm hazy/humid Welcome to "8 Questions with......" One of the coolest things that I have really enjoyed is the complete international flavor of the artists I get to chat with.