American Wrestler: The Wizard is based on the true story of Ali Afshar, a teenage boy who escapes the unrest in Iran in 1980. However, he faces more hostility in America due to the hostage crisis. Determined to fit in, he joins the school's failing wrestling team.
The film centers around the world of competitive high school wrestling and stars George Kosturos as Ali Jahani, a 17-year old who escapes Iran in the 1980s after the Iran hostage crisis and must adjust to life in a small California town only to face more hostility due to the hostage crisis. William Fichtner, Jon Voight, Ali Afshar, Gabriel Basso, Kevin G. Schmidt, and Lia Marie Johnson also star in the film.
The idea for American Wrestler: The Wizard is heavily inspired by producer Ali Afshar who took up wrestling in his high school after fleeing from his home country of Iran due to the political outrage in the 1970s. Speaking on his take of biographical films, Ali stated that he wanted to show that any tough situation can have a positive impact no matter what the outcome.
A Classic Underdog Story
The underdog story of a scrawny kid with an inner fire who defies all odds and becomes a wrestling "wizard," places itself against other classics such as Karate Kid or even Rocky as the film is also about an immigrant outcast who's doubted in skills solely due to where he comes from.
American Wrestler: The Wizard is an inspiring film that will make you smile, laugh, and cry. The film's lead actor George Kosturos did a fantastic job portraying Ali Afshar as he went through the trials and tribulations of being Iranian in America during the 1980 hostage crisis.
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One truly spectacular part of the film was the wrestling. George Kosturos had no experience in wrestling before this film. Yet he learned and performed all his own stunts. The wrestling holds, escapes, and moves were incredible, you couldn't look away. The wrestling scenes in American Wrestler: The Wizard were so intense that everyone in the audience was squirming in their seats, the cinematography truly puts you in the heat of the moment.
American Wrestler is yet another underdog sports movie, based on a true story. Ali Jahani escapes from Iran during the Iranian revolution and comes to a hostile USA, as racism against Iranians is rising due to the hostage crisis. Fitting in at a new school is difficult, he tries out for a team to fit in, sticks at wrestling and starts winning, gaining respect and being accepted.
The lead performance by George Kosturos is extremely strong, portraying the different emotions Ali is feeling as he's making his way through. Jon Voight and William Fichtner also bring their characters to life and mostly well rounded.
The script is also a strength for the most part. While there are some cringeworthy scenes (the school bully is overdone), in general the script keeps moving and is engaging. As noted, however, there are some down sides in some of the side characters, and in how believable some of the events are. The movie is clearly based on a true story, not a true story in itself.
Ali Afshar's Journey in Wrestling
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ali wrestled for Casa Grande High School in the North Coast Section and in 1991 competed in the 112-pound division at the CIF State Championships in Stockton.
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Ali Afshar - Casa Grande H.S.
AFSHAR: Well my older brothers dabbled in it, and when I got into high school, I really wanted to fit and be accepted and I noticed that all the cool kids, were wearing letterman jackets, so I said I had to have one. I was too small to play football and too short to play basketball, as i was 80 lbs as a freshman. But I beat the other kids on the wrestling team as I was a scrapper and made the varsity team as a freshman and got my letterman jacket. I actually had to wear extra sweats and drink a ton of water to make the minus weight of 84lbs! I went a whopping 1-36 my freshman year…4 years later I set all the school records.
AFSHAR: I just wanted to survive and get that damn letterman jacket!
AFSHAR: When I saw that I was good at it, and my brother and uncle helped me along with our coach, I thought hey it’s an individual sport so regardless that Casa was not that competitive, I could rock and kill it!
AFSHAR: I had almost qualified in my sophomore and junior years but lost to a guy that I had beat thru the regular season. I was so scared and hell bent on not losing to a guy who I had beat and that’s exactly what happened. I met the league champion, who we were both 1-1 in the season with and this time I said, no way can I lose this one and not make state for a 3rd time! This time it went my way and I went to state!
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AFSHAR: At least a dozen.
AFSHAR: I tried at Santa Rosa Jr. College for most of the season under Coach Jake Fitzpatrick, but unfortunately as the movie touches on, I didn’t have a place to live and had some hard times to endure, so I had to go into survival mode and wrestling/school fell by the wayside. My dad was stuck in Iran, my mom had passed and I had used up all my time as a “guest” at my friends homes, who took me in thru high school.
AFSHAR: What hasn’t it taught me? It taught me to be tough, never give up, that there’s always a challenge, there’s always wins and losses. When you can’t win one way, try another tactic, another shot, another throw, another strategy. My coach, 3X CIF champion here in LA, told me that if you can finish a season in wrestling, win or lose, you can take on any challenge and he was right. Whether it’s my race car championships or records I set, acting, or film making or life in general, Wrestling taught me how to be tough, preserver and win. And not blame anyone else. It’s one of the toughest sports, where you can be weaker, slower and you can still win.
AFSHAR: I had a bunch of wrestlers down in LA when I was there for that 1 1/2 years and I looked up to a couple of them. One was a 5th place state placer, who was smaller like me and taught me all the little tricks that gave me the edge. Greg McMurray of El Camino Real.
AFSHAR: when my mom passed away my dad bought me a hot rod, a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro and then he left for Iran… and after 27 years, he’s still there …however during high school, I was a guest at my friends’ homes, so I never had the luxury to party, do drugs, get drunk, etc., as I was fearful I’d get kicked out of their homes, so all I did was wrestle and play with my Camaro. I got it to go really fast and started street racing…way too much.
AFSHAR: About 5 years ago when I was acting on the set of the WB film, He’s Just Not That Into You. I was having lunch with the director Ken Kwapis and I told him about my story and he said that I should write it, so I did!
AFSHAR: LA Craig, the editor of the Argus Courrier in Petaluma came up with that name “The Wizard” as I used to pin people faster then you could say my full name “Alidad Gharahasanloo Afshar”, so it kind of became my thing as I was so scared that I would pin people really quick..
AFSHAR: YES for now. Lets see what life has in store for me.
His diligence paid off and made him a California State Finalist in 1991.
Ali was an outstanding wrestler and set numerous school records.
American Wrestler: The Wizard | Try Out
Beyond Wrestling: Afshar's Diverse Career
After high school, Ali turned his attention to his dream of acting and relocated to Los Angeles.
While pursuing his acting career, Ali also founded Easy Street Motorsports (also known as ESX Motorsports), an automotive performance and race facility that eventually led him to race for Subaru of America and achieved a certain celebrity racing status.
ESX became a 2 Time NHRA National & World Champion Team, 18 Time NHRA event champion, 2005 Rally America Champion (with Rocket Rally) and dozens of Import Face Off, IDRC, NOPI and Battle of the Imports series all while setting multiple world records!
Ali also created the exclusive and highly anticipated "Ali Afshar Signature Series ESX'' line of Aston Martin and Subaru vehicles that are sold directly through Subaru and Aston Martin dealerships across the nation. He also built the one of a kind, carbon fiber, full tube chassis, 1400HP, all-wheel drive Subaru. This Subaru set the record for the World's Quickest and Fastest All Wheel Drive car and the World's Fastest Subaru!
His first role back from his racing "hiatus," Ali landed a supporting role in the feature film "He's Just Not That Into You", based on the best selling book. Ali plays the character of "Skip" alongside a star studded cast including Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connolly, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, Kevin Connolly & more! This movie is directed by Emmy nominated director, Ken Kwapis.
Ali kept busy in 2009, he played the character of "Cyrus" alongside Academy Award winner Holly Hunter on the hit "TNT" television show, "Saving Grace.”
2010 brought Ali back his producing hat and created his first full length feature titled "Born To Race".
Expanding his producing endeavors, Ali's "ESX Productions" created commercials for his special edition "Ali Afshar Signature Series Subaru and Aston Martin" vehicles, Subaru and Aston Martin promotional events, BFGoodrich Tires, Glendale Mitsubishi and a music video for "American Idol" finalist "Katelyn Epperly".
In June 2012, Ali booked roles in the highly anticipated "USA" network TV show "Political Animals" starring Sigourney Weaver and in the Oscar award winning Ben Affleck directed and starred film titled "Argo".
In 2014, Ali partnered with Forrest Lucas of the Lucas Oil empire, including the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl Stadium “Lucas Oil Stadium”, Lucas Cattle and MAV TV, to create a slate of feature films. The first film “The Dog Lover” was filmed in late summer 2014. And “American Wrestler: The Wizard”, a story best described as “Rocky meets The Karate,” a heartfelt coming of age story of perseverance in the face of adversity based on Ali and his family, filmed Summer 2015. Starring Oscar winner Jon Voight and William Fichtner.
Most recently, the company released not only “Curse of the Necklace” (2024), their first horror, but shortly after, a neowestern, “Day of Reckoning” (2025) which reached number 1 on HBO Max globally.
Currently, Ali has his most renowned and anticipated project, “Wind of Change,” a biopic on the band, The Scorpions, in post-production, preparing for release in 2026.
Filmography of Ali Afshar
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | He's Just Not That Into You | Skip | Supporting Role |
| 2009 | Saving Grace | Cyrus | TV Show |
| 2010 | Born to Race | Himself | Also Producer |
| 2016 | American Wrestler: The Wizard | Producer | Based on his life |
| 2024 | Curse of the Necklace | Producer | Horror Film |
| 2025 | Day of Reckoning | Producer | Neo-Western Film |
| 2026 | Wind of Change | Producer | Biopic on The Scorpions (Upcoming) |
AFSHAR: Oh that could be a long, long answer. Lets just say multiple world records, 18 time NHRA winner, 2 time world champion and my own line of Subaru vehicles you can buy from Subaru dealers. Not to sound lame but anyone interested in that just Google my name and Subaru and read and watch videos for days.
Raised in Northern California, Ali Afshar grew up in the green Sonoma Mountains of Petaluma.