HOLLYWOOD superstardom may have left her brutally exiled from her home in Iran, but Golshifteh Farahani has never looked back.
From raunchy movie scenes to naked modelling shoots, the actress quickly shot to fame after dropping the shackles of Tehran’s archaic rules around women and is now back in the spotlight over claims she was sent . But how did she become the woman at the centre of Macron and wife Brigitte’s explosive plane row?
Golshifteh Farahani once posed for a naked video shoot after breaking free from Iran when she became a Hollywood actress Credit: Collect
In 2015 romcom Two Friends, Golshifteh plays the lead as she searches for a lover after being released from jail Credit: Arte France Cinema
The actress has starred in a Pirates of the Caribbean film and Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies Credit: Getty
Golshifteh has been accused of being the reason for Brigitte Macron slapping her husband last year Credit: Reuters
Now one of ‘s biggest stars, despite being banned from the country almost 20 years ago, Golshifteh, 42, has caught the eye of many across the globe.
President Macron is the most powerful man to be associated with Golshifteh after they were accused of being in a .
A bombshell new book has claimed flirty messages sent from Macron to the French-Iranian actress and activist were seen by a snooping first lady.
One of the texts reads “you are very beautiful,” according to a top French journalist attempting to expose .
Golshifteh in Pirates of the Carribbean Credit: Disney
Golshifteh attends the Grand Dîner du Louvre at Musee du Louvre on March 3, 2026 Credit: Getty
The claims relate to the infamous moment Brigitte in front of dozens of cameras last year in South Korea.
Political editor of Paris Match magazine, Florian Tardif, suggested in his new book, A (Nearly) Perfect Couple, that Brigitte saw a message to Golshifteh on the trip.
He told RTL radio: “The French president had a platonic love affair with the actress for several months. The messages they showed me were quite advanced, in the style of ‘you are very beautiful’.
“These messages led to tensions that ended with the private quarrel becoming public.”
It is not clear where the pair first met, but in September 2022 Macron met with a number of Iranian activists to discuss the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.
As an outspoken advocate for Iranian women’s rights, Farahani often participates in state-supported cultural initiatives.
Brigitte’s representatives have been quick to deny the latest allegations, telling Le Par i sien that the first lady never looks at her husband’s phone.
The shocking affair claims are not the first time Golshifteh has had the eyes of the world poised firmly on her.
She was formally banished from her native under the Ayatollah’s repressive regime after the film Body of Lies was released in 2008.
The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance lashed out at Golshifteh for not wearing a headscarf in the movie or at the world premieres and shoots.
The Patience Stone marked one of the raunchiest films of her career Credit: Le Pacte
The actress was banned from her home country of Iran almost 20 years ago Credit: AFP
The Ridley Scott thriller saw her star opposite and and made her the first Iranian actress to bag a role in a film since the 1979 revolution.
Iranian authorities also said Golshifteh was helping to create American propaganda through the film.
After being exiled, Golshifteh moved to Paris but remained a reliable Hollywood star.
Among her top roles since include Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge in 2017 and hit Extraction alongside in 2020.
Two Friends saw Golshifteh have several nude scenes Credit: Arte France Cinema
The star hasn’t shied away from the camera since breaking through into Hollywood Credit: Collect
The Iranian actress’s most raunchy scenes were revolutionary for a woman who grew up under such a repressive regime, sending shockwaves throughout her home country.
In Patience Stone, her most sexually charged film, Golshifteh plays a woman who confesses her deepest sexual fantasies to her comatose husband.
Her character then begins a new relationship with a nervous young soldier, to whom she acts as a sexual tutor in intimate scenes.
In 2015 romcom Two Friends, Golshifteh plays the lead as she searches for a lover after being released from jail.
Who is Golshifteh Farahani?
GOLSHIFTEH Farahani is one of Iran's most famous yet divisive actresses after she was exiled by the regime almost two decades ago.
The 42-year-old became known worldwide after breaking out from Iranian cinema and making it to Hollywood.
Her biggest roles include Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies (2008) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (2017) and Netflix hit Extraction (2020).
Her major role in Body of Lies, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, sparked fury back home in her home city of Tehran.
Iranian authorities banned her returning to the country after claiming she was helping to create American propaganda.
They also said she had violated Islamic law as Golshifteh didn’t wear a hijab.
After being exiled, Golshifteh has taken Hollywood in her stride since moving to France.
She has featured in several raunchy movie scenes including Two Friends (2015).
And she posed nude for French magazine Egoiste as she sent a message of defiance back home.
She told the magazine: “France has liberated me.
“It is the only place in the world where women do not feel guilty. In the East, you are that [guilty] all the time.”
Since leaving the Middle East, she has only grown in popularity and now boasts over 15.6 million Instagram followers.
She was married to Frenchman Louis Garrel in 2012 but the pair divorced after two years.
Many of her other relationships have remained private from the public.
Desperate to impress, she is filmed nude in several scenes, including in bed and in the shower.
Throughout her career, Golshifteh has regularly used her fame to promote activism – including hitting back at Tehran.
She once posed nude for French magazine Egoiste to send a message of defiance back home.
Golshifteh told the magazine: “France has liberated me. It is the only place in the world where women do not feel guilty.”
And she didn’t stop there, exposing her breasts in a promotional video for the 2012 Césars, the French version of the .
The black and white footage showed several film stars staring into the camera, each removing an item of clothing.
Golshifteh chose to bare her right breast, saying: “I will put flesh to your dreams.“
Golshifteh later told The Guardian : “For the first time in my life, I appreciated being a woman.
“Paris is a city that liberates you as a woman from all your sins that you think you are guilty of; it washes away all of that, and you are free.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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