Homayoun Ershadi is an Iranian actor, known for his debut role in Taste of Cherry (1997), and several Iranian and other films since then, including Hollywood movies The Kite Runner and Zero Dark Thirty. Ershadi studied architecture in Italy, graduating in 1970 and worked as an architect for many years. He was discovered as an actor by acclaimed Iranian New Wave film director, Abbas Kiarostami. While Ershadi was sitting in his car in traffic in Tehran he was approached by Kiarostami and eventually chosen to play the leading role in the film, Taste of Cherry. In 2007 he was cast in The Kite Runner, a film about two young boys growing up in Afghanistan.