- She was born in Tehran, Iran, raised in London, England, and moved to the U.S. to attend university. She is a British-American dual citizen.
- In 2012, an article in Vanity Fair ("What Katie Didn't Know" by Maureen Orth) alleged that Nazanin was covertly selected by officials in the Church of Scientology to be Tom Cruise's girlfriend before his marriage to Katie Holmes. The article also suggests that the organization monitored and punished Nazanin after their 3 month relationship, when she confided in a friend about the setup and expressed concern about the church violating its own policies. This was also discussed in Lawrence Wright's 2013 book "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief" and in Alex Gibney's subsequent Emmy Award-winning documentary, "Going Clear". The Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise's representatives denied all such allegations but they did not file suit against the reporters. Nazanin and her representatives refused to comment.
- Fluent in both English and Farsi.
- She graduated with Honors from the University of California Irvine, where she received a Bacholor's Degree in Biological Sciences.
- Boniadi changed her career path from medicine and started pursuing acting in 2006.
- She is a great-great-granddaughter of famed 19th Century Persian Philosopher and Poet Hajj Mirza Hasan Isfahani known as Hazrat Safi Ali Shah.
- She is a human rights activist and served a spokesperson for Amnesty International USA from 2009 until 2015. She continues to partner with the organization as an Artist of Conscience. She joined the Board of Directors at the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in October 2015.
- Completed an intensive course in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2009.
- She was selected as a Term Member by the Council on Foreign Relations in 2014.
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