DiCaprio co-star can’t leave Iran

An actress who stars alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in an upcoming film about the hunting of an al-Qaeda leader has been barred from leaving her native country, Iran. Golshifteh Farahani (pictured), who appears in Body of Lies, directed by Ridley Scott, was told by officials that she was not allowed to travel when she tried to board a flight at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport. She is believed to have been on her way to the US to discuss future film roles.

The imposition appears to have been ordered by Iran’s culture and Islamic guidance ministry (Ershad) who, according to reports, require actors to seek its permission before accepting roles abroad. It appears Farahani side-stepped this ruling, and although it had been widely rumoured among Iranian cinema aficionados that she’d taken the role, it only became common knowledge after a movie website posted the film's cast and official trailer. Attempts to contact Farahani have been unsuccessful.

The pre-release publicity for Body of Lies, which also stars Russell Crowe, has not specified her role, but she is understood to play Ayesheh, a nurse with whom Roger Ferris, a CIA agent played by DiCaprio, falls in love while pursuing Suleiman, a leading al-Qaeda operative, in Jordan.

Parts of the screenplay are said to have been specially adapted for Farahani's character, to avoid infringing Islamic rules on female modesty and dress codes. The Iranian news website Farda reported that her contract included a clause that required all scenes to show her with full hijab.