Parviz Parastui

Parviz Parastui was born on June 24, 1955 in the village of Charli in the Hamedan providence of Iran to a farming family. They moved to Tehran in pursuit of a better life when he was three years old. He began acting on stage at age fifteen by joining the theatrical group of director, Bahram Beizai. Later, he joined Kouch Theater Group through fellow actor, Behzad Farahani. He performed at Youth Palace and the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults for years. Parastui received his high school diploma in Biology at age 19, and at age 20 and 21 received awards from Youth Palace for his performance in "Kiosk" and "Submitters," respectfully. After the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he earned his degree from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Dramatic Arts and worked as a judicial receptionist prior to becoming a full-time actor. His debut in cinema was in Land of Lovers (1984) (Lovers Reunion), which earned him the Diploma of Honor for Best Actor in a Supporting Role from Tehran's Fajr International Film Festival at age 28. Ever since, he has played the leading role in numerous movies of different genres from comedy to drama, including the lowlife but dependable Javad in Snowman (1995) (Snowman), which was banned in Iran for many years, the traumatophobic imposter Sadeq Meshkini in controversial film Leily Is with Me (1996) (Leily is with Me), which earned him the Diploma of Honor for Best Actor in a Lead Role from Farj Film Festival, the scientist who's brain gets put in the body of the laundry detergent company that would not hire him in the unique, popular, and critically claimed comedy, The Changed Man (1998) (The Wrong Man), Haj Kazem, the former commander of the Iran-Iraq war, in The Glass Agency (1998), which brought him his first Crystal Simorgh award in the Best Lead Actor from Fajr Film Festival. His performance in The Red Ribbon (1999) is also noteworthy. The film that made him known worldwide is the comedy The Lizard (2004) where he played the role of a fugitive thief dressed as a mullah to escape imprisonment. He received the Special Jury Award for his performance from Fajr Film Festival. In Majid Majidi's The Willow Tree (2005), he played a blind man who falls in love with someone other than his wife when he gets the chance to see again. He won his second Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his performance in that film from Fajr Film Festival and another Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in In the Name of the Father (2006). Parastui has worked with some of the finest directors of Iranian cinema such as Davood Mir-Bagheri, Kamal Tabrizi, Mohamad Reza Honarmand, Ebrahim Hatamikia, Fereydoun Jeyrani, Ahmad Reza Darvish, and Majid Majidi.