I think even if I were not doing this play, the plight of the people of Afghanistan would be a call to action. We have made promises to people there and we are abandoning them. The situation is a real humanitarian crisis. But spending time with these characters has made it that much more personal to me.
As a part of our series about stars who are making an important social impact, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Marjan Neshat.
Marjan Neshat is currently performing in Sylvia Khoury’s highly acclaimed play, Selling Kabul, at Playwrights Horizons and will next lead the cast of the new award-winning play English by Sanaz Toossi at the Atlantic opening February 22nd through Sunday, March 13, 2022. Marjan’s work is known to audiences through her many roles in film and television including the multi-award-winning film Rockaway as well as the indie feature Almost in Love. On television, she most recently appeared in New Amsterdam, Bull and The Accidental Wolf.
Thank you so much for joining us on this interview series. Can you share with us the backstory that led you to this career path?
Thank you for having me.
When I was around six years old and we were living in Tehran, my family took me to see a play. I don’t really remember what the story was any more or even the title of the play, but I remember a son died in his father’s arms and as the father mourned him, he said “What will I tell your mother?” I remember being so enthralled and having an ache to be up there with them. I didn’t want to leave the theater. I felt as if no one but me really understood the play. About a year after that we left Iran and I forgot about that particular scene but a seed had been planted. We emigrated to Seattle, and I was the new kid in a school full of people who’d known each other since birth. I was a shy and hypersensitive girl, and books were my only reliable friends. I remember reading a book about old Hollywood where the protagonist was a young actress, and it captured my imagination.
I did my first play when I was 14. I was a Freshman in high school and I mostly lived my life on the outside. I was the arty girl dressed in black who was mostly quiet. Then I showed up for rehearsal and I was playing this sort of light-hearted “floozy” (I had my first kiss on stage) and for the first time in my life, I truly had a sense of being a part of something. All these different people had come together to make something, to tell a story, and I was one of them. I think this was something I had wished for forever since that first play in Iran. The role and the story could not have been more different, but that feeling of coming together to tell a story, of being a part of a whole was like nothing I had experienced. From that point on I essentially committed my life to this field.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What was the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?
It’s definitely a career with ups and downs. Thankfully some of what once felt like completely humiliating experiences are now funny! When I had just graduated from Drama School and was a broke actor, living the dream, I got an audition for an infomercial. “The Unbelievable 90’s CD compilation.” I was a very serious actress who only wanted to do theater and indie movies, “things of worth and meaning!” But this job paid enough to cover my rent for half a year and I begrudgingly went to the audition and booked the job! I couldn’t believe it. I flew to Toronto and was put up in this fancy hotel. The whole thing was a surreal experience about how to sell a product. They decided not to use my real name because it wasn’t catchy. They changed my name to Staci Hart and I had to wear a very short skirt and top because “midriffs sell”! I remember in the hotel room that night writing on one of those hotel notepads that “I, a classically trained actress, have sunk lower than I thought possible!” It’s funny that I look back at that moment with a lot of fondness. I’m grateful that I’ve managed to get to a place in my career where I can say no to things. But it also taught me that things are never quite what you imagine they will be. When I started out, I had such a rosy idea of what it meant to be an artist, what it would look like, but real perseverance and commitment is something I really learned along the way. I took part of my fee and studied with a teacher I had always wanted to study with. I really never wanted to do another infomercial again, but doing it was part of my story.
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
I think every path is different, but my main advice would be to do the work to find what you love and commit to it, every day. I’ve been very lucky to have had some incredible teachers in my life. Ron Van Lieu who I think is one of the best acting teachers in America said this in a class I was in once: “The Actor’s fundamental and basic job is to show us who we are. Specifically, and universally, as a collection of humans, there are conditions we share. If you want to be an actor your job is to experience things so you need to do more of that, consciously and put the phone down.” When my schedule allows, I teach an acting class at The New School of Drama and I use this quote a lot with my students. I think I came out of school at a time when social media wasn’t so prevalent and all-encompassing. When we went to a museum or to see a play, we weren’t all on our phones, we were together, trying to change the air around us. I do think that acting is a transgressive act and you have to be present to the world around you and adamant about wanting to experience it. I’m sure there are other ways in. Someone’s way in could be becoming a tik tok sensation, but I can’t really speak to that.
Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?
I count myself very lucky to have worked with some amazing people, and some of my deepest friendships have been forged through work. I have worked with a Russian director named Slava Dolgachev who taught me to look more deeply at texts than I ever had before. Studying Checkov’s plays with him blew my mind and heart open. He taught me that if you understand something deeply, you can play it. That the more time you spend with something the more fruit it bears. I also had the profound privilege of attending a masterclass with the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, and one day in class he turned to us and said, “You know, acting is really hard. It’s like lugging heavy suitcases up the staircase of your mind. You have to be honest with yourself when you go to work. Do you want to be on stage or set lugging heavy suitcases up your mind or do you want to be at the bar afterward and being told how great you are?” I think about this every time I’m about to go on stage or to work in any capacity. Of course, we all do this to a certain extent because we want to be loved, admired or approved of, but it takes a serious commitment to the work to do anything of value. I think that was a huge lesson for me.
How are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you’re working on right now?
The most meaningful thing I am doing right now is performing in the play Selling Kabul. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a play that spoke so directly to a human crisis that is alive in the audience’s psyche. It feels essential to tell this story. It feels essential that people don’t get their news feed and forget. Our foreign policy has consequences and unfortunately, right now the consequences for the people in Afghanistan are beyond dire. It is really important to me that this play is made about a family, there are no dialects, they are not otherised. We really wanted them to feel as if they are your family, not people somewhere in the middle-east that have nothing to do with us. I would love people to be moved beyond just empathy but feel the desire to help. Our playwright Sylvia Khoury has started a fundraiser for The International Refugee Assistance Project. In light of the recent withdrawal, IRAP has been working around the clock to help as many at-risk Afghans get to safety as quickly as possible (including Afghan allies, women’s rights activists, LGBTQ+ individuals, NGO workers, and many others at risk of being targeted by the Taliban). They need our help.
Can you share with us a story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?
I think even if I were not doing this play, the plight of the people of Afghanistan would be a call to action. We have made promises to people there and we are abandoning them. The situation is a real humanitarian crisis. But spending time with these characters has made it that much more personal to me.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started”
I think it would have really helped me to understand that this is a business as well as an art form.
I wish someone had told me I should do every reading possible and to form a company and make work.
It can be a very isolating industry, and I think it took me a while to understand the necessity of community. I am a member of The Actors Center, which really has been an artistic home. I wish I had found it even sooner.
Can you please give us your favorite life lesson quote? And can you explain how that was relevant in your life?
I have a two-part quote, Tennessee Williams wrote an essay about the catastrophe of success where he quotes William Saroyan saying: “In the time of your life-live,” ( to which Tennessee adds) “That time is short and it doesn’t return again. It is slipping away while I write this and while you read it, and the monosyllable of the clock is Loss, loss, loss unless you devote your heart to its opposition.”
I tell my son all the time, you have to find what you love and put it in the world. I can’t think of a better way to live your life than devoting it to what you love.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Actress Marjan Neshat Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.