You speak five different languages
and worked as a translator/con-
sultant on film and TV sets and
voiceover work in films like 6 UN-
DERGROUND. Does speaking mul-
tiple languages bring more opportu-
nities in Hollywood?
It is definitely a great thing. I can say
we are progressing to more of a di-
verse world. I think diversity is really
great and big right now, and I think
we’re just getting started. There are
a lot of stories we are telling take
Afghanistan, for example. I speak
Pashto and Dari, and on This Is Us, I
speak Pashto. Pashto is spoken by the
biggest, ethnic group in Afghanistan.
My mom is Pashto Zabaan. My dad is
from Kabul Afghanistan, and his side
of the family, speaks Dari. My par-
ents and I speak both of the languag-
es. It’s how I was able to book some
of the jobs. I was confused, growing
up asking, why am I always moving,
and why does my family speak dif-
ferent languages? As a mixed child,
if you look into my culture, it’s un-
heard of because there is the back-
lash. When I was born, I didn’t look
like anyone else, and I spoke dif-
ferent languages. I learned Russian,
English and my family also speaks
Hindi. Coming to the U.S., and not
speaking any English and having to
learn it helped me to get auditions
where it required that I speak Rus-
sian, Dari or English. I also did plays
with the majority of my background
in theatre. I was able to do different
dialogs such as British and Southern
and a bunch of other things. When
you are in the theatre for that many
years, you can work on it.
What’s next for Bahara Golestani,
any upcoming projects?
I worked on Dirty John, alongside
Christian Slater and there are a cou-
ple of other things I am very excited
about, but, unfortunately at the mo-
ment I am not able to share it, but,
hopefully, the next time I talk to you
guys, I can tell you more.
Bahara mentioned before the end
of the conversation the #Simin-
HopeFoundation. It is an organiza-
tion that helps to raise money for the
children of Los Angeles and people
in need and at risk of homeless-
ness, foster care, and abuse. She
also spoke about supporting Breast
Cancer causes as well. “It makes me
happy to give back and be involved
in what’s happening with other peo-
ple.”
Follow @baharagolestani
Group
of ideas and passions and things I
would love to bring together as real-
life stories. I would love to be behind
the camera one day and take a little
bit more control. I think it is a great
time for women, and that makes me
excited.
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