Big Screen

Wrestler Actor’s Father Arrested By Iranian Police

By Richard on March 19, 2009 at 1:22 AM

Iran continues to dislike Hollywood, it would seem. Actor Armin Amiri, who briefly appeared in the Iranian-flag-ripping movie The Wrestler, recently learned that his father was arrested in Tehran.

Amiri, also a former club owner, got a call from his hysterical mother saying that his father had been arrested on suspicion of helping his son escape Iran 20 years ago, only so said son could go and blaspheme the nation terribly:

They came and picked him up at 7:30 in the morning, and basically they were asking about me because of my role in The Wrestler. They were saying I was a traitor, and also because of my playing a gay character [in Factory Girl], the F-word got thrown around a couple times.

He was eventually released unharmed.

I don’t know if it’s more scary that Iran gives such a shit about what happens in the make-believe land we cobble together over here, or if it’s more heartening that American independent cinema is being seen in places as far-flung as Persia.

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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)

  • tammyfey
    March 19, 2009 at 5:17 AM

    @iplaudius: Not to mention DRUGS galore!

  • inthesticks
    March 19, 2009 at 2:58 AM

    The Wrestler? Factory Girl? Hell, the Tehran Twelveplex books better flicks than we get here in Kokomo.

  • CheapCynicism
    March 19, 2009 at 2:38 AM

    @tammyfey: That's the kind of risky obscure reference that deserves a +1.

    CheapCynicism

  • iplaudius
    March 19, 2009 at 2:28 AM

    On the other hand, in Iran, the public baths, default assumption of heterosexuality, pervasive intolerance, oppressive theocracy, and threat of death can make for some very exciting gay sex.

  • noodleman
    March 19, 2009 at 1:59 AM

    I doubt The Wrestler has been screened in Iran (except as a pirated copy). All the govt there has to do is read what's on the interwebs.

  • tammyfey
    March 19, 2009 at 1:56 AM

    @Mount_Prion: Fesenjan?

  • Harry Pelotas
    March 19, 2009 at 1:38 AM

    @Mount_Prion: "Fooferaw."

    Harry Pelotas

  • Mount_Prion
    March 19, 2009 at 1:29 AM

    "...also because of my playing a gay character [in Factory Girl], the F-word got thrown around a couple times."

    The F-word is "French", I take it?

  • regisgoat
    March 20, 2009 at 9:56 PM

    Jesus, I wonder what they did to the parents of the Iron Sheik?

    regisgoat

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