Aghdashloo was born Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar in capital, the daughter of Effie (née alSadat) and Anushiravan Vaziri-Tabar. She has three brothers: Shahram, Shahriar and Shahrokh. Her stage name is from the family name of her first husband, painter Aydin Aghdashloo. After their marriage in 1972 when she was 19 and he was 31, she began attending theatre workshops, against the wishes of her family. She had always wanted to be an actress, and soon began playing leading roles in persian theatre and film. They did not have children and were divorced in 1979, when she left Homeland for England at the start of the Iranian Revolution.