Marvel's The Punisher adds Oscar nominee in recurring role

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Shohreh Aghdashloo is stepping into the world of the Punisher (Jon Bernthal).

The actress, best known for her Oscar-nominated turn in 2003’s House of Sand and Fog, has nabbed a recurring role in Marvel’s The Punisher as Farah Madani, the mother of Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah), a skilled Homeland Security agent who’s vexed by the Punisher, a.k.a. Frank Castle. Farah is an Iranian by birth who has spent most of her life living in the U.S., where she’s established a successful practice as a psychiatrist.

Aghdashloo is no stranger to genre work — she currently stars in Syfy’s The Expanse — nor to the comic-book genre, having played a small part in X-Men: The Last Stand. But she’s also no stranger to the team behind Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil spinoff: Aghdashloo previously played Revah’s mother in HBO’s House of Saddam, which was also produced by The Punisher showrunner Steve Lightfoot. (The miniseries landed her an Emmy as well, for Outstanding Supporting Actress, in 2009.)

The series, which stars Bernthal, Revah, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Deborah Ann Woll, and Ben Barnes, most recently debuted a teaser after the end credits of Marvel’s The Defenders. The clip depicts Bernthal’s titular, tortured anti-hero ruminating over his past:

Marvel’s The Punisher debuts on Netflix this fall.

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