Sam Asghari Wraps Starring Role in Action Short Inspired by Iranian Refugee Stories

The film 'The Good American' explores themes of immigration and identity for an Iranian American lead character.

Apr. 9, 2026 at 12:19am

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An abstract close-up photograph featuring shattered glass and cracked leather textures in dramatic studio lighting, conceptually representing the precarious circumstances and fragmented identity of an Iranian refugee character.The gritty, high-contrast textures of 'The Good American' short film evoke the fragile reality faced by Iranian refugees seeking a new home in the United States.Los Angeles Today

Actor Sam Asghari has wrapped filming on an action thriller short film called 'The Good American,' where he stars as Ben, an Iranian refugee and rideshare driver in Los Angeles who gets caught up in a criminal underworld. The film's immigrant themes were inspired by real-life stories of Iranian Americans being detained at the U.S.-Canada border after a 2020 U.S. drone strike on an Iranian general.

Why it matters

The film aims to shed light on the experiences of Iranian refugees and immigrants in the U.S., exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the challenges they face. As tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated in recent years, stories that humanize the Iranian American experience have become increasingly important.

The details

In the film, Asghari's character Ben becomes entangled with a human trafficking ring run by Russian mobsters after a passenger, played by Max Reeves, asks him to help save her twin sister. Director and co-writer Alex Fazeli, who moved from Iran to the U.S. as a child, says the film's themes were inspired by a New York Times story about Iranian Americans being detained at the border.

  • Asghari's family moved him from Iran to Los Angeles when he was 12 years old.
  • The U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani occurred on January 3, 2020.

The players

Sam Asghari

An Iranian-American actor who stars in the short film 'The Good American' as Ben, an Iranian refugee and rideshare driver in Los Angeles.

Alex Fazeli

The director and co-writer of 'The Good American,' who moved from Iran to the U.S. as a child and says the film's immigrant themes were inspired by real-life experiences of Iranian Americans.

Max Reeves

An actor who plays a passenger who asks Asghari's character Ben to help save her twin sister from a human trafficking ring.

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What they’re saying

“I know what it feels like to not have a home, to search for one, to finally belong. I have never once questioned whether I am American. Not once. I know what I believe in, what I stand for, what I sacrificed to be here. Then a border agent opens my passport — and in that second, none of it counts. Being a good American was never about your values. It's about where you were born.”

— Alex Fazeli, Director and co-writer of 'The Good American'

“I'm extremely worried. War is not something that I want, that anybody wants in the world...But truthfully, the people of Iran have been asking for help and the people of Iran, the majority of them, are sort of happy that this sad moment is creating history.”

— Sam Asghari

What’s next

The short film 'The Good American' is expected to premiere at film festivals later this year, where it will bring further attention to the experiences of Iranian refugees and immigrants in the U.S.

The takeaway

Through the lens of an action thriller, 'The Good American' aims to humanize the Iranian American experience and shed light on the challenges faced by refugees and immigrants, particularly in the context of rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.