Why Nour Hooshmand Is an Actress to Watch

As Ria makes its international debut at the Busan International Film Festival, the Filipino Iranian reflects on a defining year in her career.

The year is far from over, but 2026 feels like it’s Nour Hooshmand’s year. The Filipino Iranian actress has had a busy year in her filmography, with the release of the Cinemalaya-winning film Tayo Lang Ang Nakakaalam and the highly anticipated Edjop. Hooshmand also earned her first acting award at the recently concluded Cinepanalo for her performance in the student short film entry Starfish. She also stars in Filipiñana, the Philippines’ official entry to the 99th Academy Awards.

This month, the actress attends the world premiere of Ria at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), where she plays the title role. “It’s my first Asian film festival that’s not in the Philippines,” she told Vogue Philippines, a few days before flying off to Busan.

“Every day, I’m just so emotional when I read, for example, articles about me,” she said, reflecting on her year so far. “I just cry because it’s been a long time in the making. It’s not like it happened overnight.”

And it didn’t even begin with pursuing acting. In 2019, she graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines with a Theater Arts degree. Although she studied performing arts, Hooshmand began behind the scenes, often as an assistant director. “I think of the stage as a very sacred space. Before, I didn’t think I deserved to actually step on it and perform,” she said.

It was her professor, the late National Artist for Theater Tony Mabesa, who saw the potential in Hooshmand, casting her in her first lead role in a play. “He said, ‘You have big eyes.’ And the eyes are the windows of the soul,” she shared. She also learned more about acting as an assistant director, often filling in for actors who weren’t present at rehearsals.

And when she decided to pursue acting, her mother fully supported her. “Apparently, it was her frustrated dream to be an actress,” she said. Unfortunately, circumstances didn’t let her mother fulfill that dream. “She would express that if I want to be an artist, she would support me. Because she understands what it feels like to not go for something that you’re really passionate about.”

With her production background, Hooshmand also manages her own acting career. This year’s slate of films only adds to her already extensive filmography: Blue Room (2022), When This Is All Over (2023), Cinemartyrs (2025), and the award-winning short film Agapito (2025), which is also supported by the Film Academy of the Philippines for consideration in the Oscars 2027 Best Live Action Short Film category.

When it comes to choosing her projects, Hooshmand reads the material first as an audience member. “Does this speak to me? Do I believe in this story?” she would ask herself. “I don’t care if it’s a student filmmaker or a big director. As long as the story resonates, I’m up for it.”

Hooshmand is a storyteller through and through, expressing her desire to one day write and direct her own projects. Earlier this year, she joined the 30th batch of Ricky Lee’s scriptwriting workshop, alongside participants such as JC Santos, Cristine Reyes, Dodo Dayao, and Wanggo Gallaga. “Aside from his brilliance, his energy is like, infinite energy,” Hooshmand said of the National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts. Currently, she is also developing a theater show with Porvenir, hoping to bring theater to the provinces. 

While this year is certainly one for the books in terms of her career, 2026 began with grief, as her Iranian father died while she was filming Ria. “It’s hard to lose someone like that. But I could feel that he’s guiding me,” she said, recalling how her father appeared in her dream on the last day of shooting the film.

She recalls how, because of the Iranian conflict, her father couldn’t fly back to his homeland. “He told me that when I do get the chance to speak to the world, or if I get that voice, I should talk about love and how we should end wars,” she said. “Now that I have a platform, I want to, as much as possible, talk about that if I can.”

On the BIFF red carpetRed CarpetThe ceremonial walkway at premieres, award shows, and galas where public figures pose for photographers in their most carefully chosen looks. Red-carpet fashion launches trends, fuels designer visibility, and generatesGo to Red Carpet Glossary, Hooshmand made a statement through fashion. Sporting a punk dye-cut by Rej Hidalgo, she wore an orange dress by Antonina and Cian Dayrit, which takes a stand against the Pax Silica project in the Philippines. The dress features a map of the 4,000-acre land that will be used as the site for the AI-native industrial acceleration hub, including the ancestral lands where Aeta communities will be displaced.

“Ria is a political film, so it shouldn’t be all for glam. If I go there, I could amplify voices. So, I want to amplify the voices of the people who are going to be displaced,” she said.

She has one more project slated to release in 2026: Erik Matti’s nine-episode Netflix series BuyBust: The Undesirables. As her career grows at a steady pace, she shares a few more things she’d like to manifest: to be able to support her family, to uplift young artists, to bring the arts to the provinces, and to create space for art to flourish.

While reflecting on her career, she shared one message for aspiring actors: “Be brave in following your heart. Don’t wait for the perfect conditions; your best work could be now.” As her career takes off, she shares one of her mantras: “Laborare est orare,” or “to work is to pray.” It must be true. Hooshmand’s prayers are slowly working.