Homayoun Ershadi, an Actor Who Didn’t Like Being Called an Intellectual

IBNA Arts Service – Ahmad Mohammadtabrizi; Homayoun Ershadi is one of the few actors whose professional path in cinema has been directly intertwined with literature and adaptation. From his first appearance in Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Taste of Cherry’ to acting in Iranian adapted films like ‘The Pear Tree’ and international ones like ‘The Kite Runner’, he has always represented a humanistic and thoughtful approach to his characters. A perspective shaped by silence, books, and introspection.

Ershadi’s calm, thoughtful, and serene demeanor made him the first choice for directors. Existentialist films like ‘Taste of Cherry’ placed Ershadi, much like the heroes in Camus’s and Sartre’s books, in search of the meaning of life and death. A man who, with his silence and calm facial expression, conveyed emotions such as worry, sorrow, philosophical pains, and even a kind of liberation to the audience.

In his films, instead of displaying outward emotions, he sought to represent the mental and inner layers of characters. Perhaps this is why auteur directors like Kiarostami and Mehrjui chose him for roles that depicted the boundary between philosophy, literature, and image.

Ershadi’s Stroke of Luck

He himself believed that if Kiarostami hadn’t seen him at a red light that day, and if fate hadn’t introduced him to Kiarostami, his life path would never have been drawn towards a continuous presence in cinema. Perhaps he would have remained an architect, or perhaps he would have become a singer.

Ershadi did not attribute his success in cinema solely to luck and fate, stating that his own efforts had not been without influence in this regard. Whatever it was – effort or destiny – the important thing is that Ershadi never strayed from humility and friendship with Kiarostami: “I owe my entry into cinema to Abbas Kiarostami, and my staying in cinema was truly through his film. Many entered cinema with his films but did not continue their work and only played that one role… He changed the course of my life. My life has always had many ups and downs, and meeting Kiarostami is a good event in my life.”

It was playing these roles and films that gave Ershadi a unique position in Iranian cinema. At the time, he didn’t imagine he would remain in cinema and the acting profession: “Initially, I didn’t expect to stay in cinema, as you know, in Mr. Kiarostami’s films, often non-actors played roles, and they usually only had that one performance and did not continue. For this reason, I also thought my presence in cinema would end with that one film, but after that, it continued, and I also appeared in films like ‘Lost Love,’ ‘The Pear Tree,’ and others.”

Kiarostami and ‘Taste of Cherry’ forever changed Ershadi’s life path, leading him to subsequently play roles in important films such as ‘The Pear Tree’ and ‘The Kite Runner’.

A Brilliant Presence in The Pear Tree

Among Homayoun Ershadi’s quiet, introverted, and thought-provoking roles, his presence in Dariush Mehrjui’s film ‘The Pear Tree’ holds a special place. The film, an adaptation of Goli Taraghi’s short story, is considered one of the most poetic and, at the same time, philosophical works of Iranian cinema in the 1990s.

In this film, Ershadi plays a writer who returns to an old garden to write. A place where his pear tree no longer bears fruit, and the past has fallen into the shadow of silence and ashes. Ershadi, with a calm face, tired eyes, and a monotonous but meaningful voice, creates an image of a writer walking on the border between reality and imagination.

Ershadi’s performance in ‘The Pear Tree’ is special and unique; a performance based on silence, contemplation, and doubt. He speaks little, but his presence is full of meaning.

Mehrjui and Several Other Collaborations with Ershadi

Fifteen years after ‘The Pear Tree,’ Ershadi once again appeared before Mehrjui’s camera in an adapted film. The story of this film was based on Nikolai Gogol’s ‘The Story of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich,’ and Mehrjui, after several unsuccessful experiences like ‘Orange Suit’ and ‘The Beloved Sky,’ had returned to his beloved and concerned cinema.

Mehrjui himself wrote the screenplay, intertwining philosophical concepts, humor, and social allusions. Ershadi played Dr. Kamali in the film, a doctor who returns to Iran after years of living abroad. His return, ostensibly an excuse to meet old friends, is, at its core, the beginning of his confrontation with a world oscillating between reality and imagination.

The film could not replicate the success of Mehrjui’s films from the 1980s and 1990s, but Ershadi’s performance in it was acceptable. ‘Ghosts’ was the last collaboration between Ershadi and Mehrjui. This film was an adaptation of an Ibsen play and, like Mehrjui’s previous film, fell short of the director’s brilliant works.

Starring in a Well-Made Film Adapted from Jhumpa Lahiri’s Story

The film ‘Italy Italy,’ directed by Kaveh Sabbaghzadeh, is one of the lesser-seen works in Iranian cinema. This film was adapted from a short story by the Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri. The film had a cheerful and fantasy atmosphere, a rarity in Iranian cinema. It was adapted from ‘A Temporary Matter,’ one of the stories from the collection ‘Interpreter of Maladies,’ which Mojdeh Daghighi and Hermes Publications released in Persian.

‘Italy Italy’ is a film about the decline of love, the decline of a relationship, and the decline of a shared life. A shared life that begins with passion, love, and excitement, but gradually minor and major events, daily routines, unspoken words, and small lies lead to its downfall. Despite its relatively bitter story, the film is by no means bitter or saddening and maintains a cheerful atmosphere.

The Kite Runner and Global Recognition

Alongside acting in Iranian films, one of Ershadi’s great fortunes was acting in international films. After his brilliance in ‘Taste of Cherry,’ he caught the attention of directors from other countries, and his role in the adapted film ‘The Kite Runner’ was a launching pad for introducing Ershadi to other filmmakers.

Ershadi recounts the story of joining ‘The Kite Runner’ as follows: “When I acted in ‘The Kite Runner,’ I didn’t have a manager. I was busy acting in a TV series when I received a message from Mr. Kiarostami saying they wanted my email and phone number for this film, and since they had seen ‘Taste of Cherry,’ they knew Mr. Kiarostami and contacted me through him. It was after acting in this film that my process of appearing in international works began.”

Marc Forster’s film ‘The Kite Runner,’ made in 2007, based on Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel, was one of the most influential literary adaptations of the first decade of the 21st century. Among the international faces in the film, the presence of Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi in the role of ‘adult Amir’ is a shining point; a character who carries the burden of guilt and the past and returns to his homeland in search of forgiveness.

According to critics and the film’s director, Homayoun Ershadi’s performance was amazing. One of the most fascinating aspects of Ershadi’s acting is the cultural difference in his style. Among the highly expressive and reactive Hollywood actors, he has a distinct presence with his silence, hesitation, and introspection.

The film’s director, Marc Forster, stated in an interview: “What’s amazing about him is that he acts so naturally… He only relies on his heart.” Roger Ebert, the renowned American critic, also wrote that Ershadi’s face in ‘The Kite Runner’ conveys virtues and inner depths that dialogues cannot transmit.

This characteristic was also seen earlier in ‘The Pear Tree’ and ‘Taste of Cherry.’ He creates maximum feeling from minimal movement. In a scene where Amir enters his deserted ancestral home after many years, Ershadi’s silence conveys the entire burden of sorrow and guilt without any need for explanation or exaggeration. The camera stays on his face, and the audience simultaneously sees the presence of the past in his expression.

‘The Kite Runner’ is not just a story about Afghanistan, but a universal drama about conscience, betrayal, and forgiveness. Among all the elements of adaptation, Homayoun Ershadi’s performance builds a bridge between literature and image, and between the Middle East and Hollywood.

Continued Presence in World Cinema with Adapted Films

The film ‘A Most Wanted Man,’ directed by Anton Corbijn in 2014, was made in the spy film genre, and Ershadi had a brief role in it. This film was based on a novel of the same name by the English writer John le Carré and was adapted into a cinematic film with minor changes.

‘Ali and Nino’ was made in 2016 based on a novel of the same name by Kurban Said, and Ershadi played a traditional and authoritative father who faces historical, cultural, and personal changes in the younger generation. In reviews of this film, Ershadi’s role was considered key and influential; a father with power, traditional values, and views who confronts the crises and love of the next generation.

Screen Daily wrote in a review of Ershadi’s performance in ‘Ali and Nino’ that his acting is done with “a kind and quiet face.”

In Search of Silence

Homayoun Ershadi, due to his calm face and the specific expression of his eyes and face, is mostly chosen for intellectual characters. However, he himself did not like to always be known by such titles and said about it: “Well, my face looks like this, but I am absolutely not an intellectual! Early in my career, I played intellectual films, but later, to prove to myself that I could handle other roles, I changed genres. I also played killer, thief, and comedy roles. Of course, I still don’t think I’m an actor; I’m always a student! I am an actor, and if they give me an intellectual role, it suits my face more. But believe me, I am not an intellectual. This perception is very bad because then they don’t give me comedy roles, saying it doesn’t suit my face!”

Homayoun Ershadi was a calm and unassuming actor who, although starting his acting career late, continued it very well and with quality. Ershadi is not one for grand gestures; instead, he gave depth to his roles and weight to films through his gaze and silence. He himself summed up his view and acting style in a few words: “Acting, for me, was a kind of silence, not a shout.”