Bahar Soomekh

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Bahar Soomekh

Bahar Soomekh at the 2006 Academy Awards.
Born March 30, 1975 (age 31)
Tehran, Iran
Years active 2002-present
Spouse(s) Clayton, an avid surfer (2001-present)
Notable roles Dorri in Crash (2004)
Davian's Translator in Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Dr. Lynn Denlon in Saw III (2006)

Bahar Soomekh (Persian: بهار سومخ born March 30, 1975) is an Iranian-born Jewish American Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actress. She began acting in the early 2000s, and is perhaps best known for her limited, supporting, and leading roles in the films Crash (2004), Mission: Impossible III (2006), and Saw III (2006).

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Bahar Soomekh was born in Tehran, Iran, to a conservative Persian Jewish family, and moved with her parents and sister, Saba Soomekh, to Los Angeles, United States in 1979, before the Iranian revolution.[1] Her name, "Bahar", means "spring" in Persian. She attended Sinai Akiba Academy and Beverly Hills High School, where she played the violin in the school orchestra, before taking environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Soomekh began working at a corporate job, and took acting classes at night, before quitting her job to pursue a full-time acting career.[1]

[edit] Career

Bahar Soomekh has appeared in several films, including Academy Award-winning movies Crash (2004) as Dorri, and Syriana (2005) as Yassi. The whole cast of Crash won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture. But in the beginning of her career, in the years 2002-2004, Sommekh has guest starred on several television shows, including two different roles on JAG. Her role on the 4th season of 24, playing the role of Turkish terrorist Habib Marwan's wife, was edited out of the show; her scenes are preserved only in the deleted scenes section of the DVD. Bahar got some more attention playing Davian's Translator in Mission: Impossible III (2006). She had a leading role in the horror film Saw III, which began filming in May and was released to theaters on October 27, 2006. Recently, she portrayed Margo on the television series Day Break, which aired from 2006-2007.

Bahar Soomekh as Dr. Lynn Denlon
Bahar Soomekh as Dr. Lynn Denlon

[edit] Personal Life

Soomekh describes herself as Jewish. She has said that Judaism developed who she is and enriched her life. She has also said that she would like to raise her family in the Jewish religion.[2]

Bahar married an avid surfer named Clayton in 2001 and they have a child born in 2005. They both celebrate Shabbat every Friday night with their family, attend synagogue frequently, and celebrate the Jewish holidays. Bahar has said that one important Jewish teaching for her is tikkun olam, since she is an environmentalist. She is very proud of her Jewish heritage. She told Isaac Mizrahi at the Oscars, "Just because I'm in Hollywood doesn't mean that I forget that I'm Persian or that I'm Jewish. Judaism is not only my religion—it's my identity." [3]

[edit] Trivia

  • Her height is 5' 5".
  • Graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1993.
  • She attended Sinai Akiba Academy, a jewish day school in Los Angeles, for several years.
  • She played the violin for 13 years.
  • "Bahar" in Persian means spring, a new life.
  • Graduated in environmental studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
  • Was one of 100 Most beautiful people in the world, as named by People (2006).

[edit] Interviews

[edit] Selected filmography

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Melamed, Karmel. "Tom Cruise’s Persian Princess", Forward, 2006-04-28. Retrieved on 2006-05-10.
  2. ^ Melamed, Karmel. "Bahar Soomekh: Our Very Own Hollywood Superstar Actress", Iranian Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-03-01.
  3. ^ Kantor, Robert. "From Tehran to Tinseltown", World Jewish Digest, 2006-06-16. Retrieved on 2007-03-01.

[edit] External link

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