Shohreh Aghdashloo on Law & Order: SVU and Her Emmy Win: "When Iranian Women See Me, They Tell Me How Proud They Are That I Can Open the Doors for Their Children"

Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo — Iranian-born and a lifelong advocate for the liberation of oppressed women in the Middle East — guest starred in the Law & Order: SVU episode "Dirty" as Detective Saliyah "Sunny" Qadri, teaming with Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson to investigate the murder of a Brooklyn district attorney. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo — Iranian-born and a lifelong advocate for the liberation of oppressed women in the Middle East — guest starred in the Law & Order: SVU episode "Dirty" as Detective Saliyah "Sunny" Qadri. The character teams with Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to investigate the murder of Brooklyn District Attorney Page Ferguson, whose crime scene has been tampered with. The episode was written by Judith McCreary and directed by Helen Shaver.

On winning her first Emmy in 2009 and its impact on women in Iran: "Absolutely, it means a lot to me and a partial acknowledgement. It will help me to sort of prove to the other half — to the women in the other half — that there are democratic places in which they can function as women and still be acknowledged and be able to work and receive awards for that matter. Everything that happens to me has a tremendous effect especially on the Iranian women side — not only inside Iran but all across the globe. And of course, when they give me an inch I take a yard to prove it more and more that the democracy that we are enjoying in this country is for real, and even people like me who have not been born here, who joined the industry, can enjoy and be benefited from this vast and active industry that is willing to work with actors regardless of their background, religion, the color of their skin, and nationality."

On what the Emmy means to her community: "It means a lot to me and also to my people. When Iranian women see me wherever I am, they tell me how proud they are that I can open the doors for their children and the children of those children."

On what drew her to the SVU role: "I love playing multi-characters, complex characters such as the one I played. She is a very hard-working, ambitious woman with her own dreams — pursuing her own dreams. In this brilliant plot written by Judith McCreary, this character goes through a plot that takes a lot of twists and turns at every corner, and of course it gave me the opportunity to portray the character as truthfully as I could. She constantly keeps turning and changing. I give an arm and a leg for a character like that, so when I read this story, I immediately jumped on it. Not only because I am a fan of this show — I have been watching it religiously whenever I had time — but also to take an hour away from who I am, where I am, what I'm doing, and just draw myself into some of the essence of the story that is so complex and so interesting to follow without having to think about my own problems. It is just incredible that I had the chance of being a part of it."

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