‘Extraction 2’ star Golshifteh Farahani says she lost ‘After Yang’ role because of Trump
By Carl Samson
June 30, 2023
Iranian French actress Golshifteh Farahani has blamed former President Donald Trump for her losing a lead role in the Kogonada film “After Yang,” regarded by critics as one of last year’s best movies.
Why Trump is being blamed: In a new interview with Elle, Farahani, who most recently starred in Netflix’s “Extraction 2,” revealed that she was originally cast in the female lead role opposite Colin Farrell.
However, her filming plans were scrapped due to Trump’s travel ban. The role went instead to Jodie Turner-Smith.
“I have a French passport but my visa took much longer than it used to take because I am born in Iran and I also couldn’t make it to that shooting,” Farahani said.
About Trump’s travel ban: The former president’s travel ban consisted of executive orders that banned incoming travelers from Muslim-majority countries.
The first of them, Executive Order 13769, was signed on Jan. 7, 2017, and blocked the entry of nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. Succeeding orders expanded the list of banned countries, with final additions — Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania — coming in January 2020.
President Joe Biden moved to end the bans in January 2021, but “After Yang” — which starred Justin H. Min and debuted at the Cannes in July of that year — had likely finished production by then.
Not the first time: Unfortunately, Trump’s travel ban was not the first time Farahani found herself limited by politics. She told Elle that she also lost a role in “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (2010).
“It was when the government of Iran took my passport and they didn’t let me leave and that led to my exile. It was the most traumatic time of my life,” Farahani recalled.
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