Sarah Shahi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sarah Shahi
Shahi in 2016
Born	Aahoo Jahansouzshahi (1980-01-10) January 10, 1980 (age 45) Euless, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	Southern Methodist University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Steve Howey ​ ​ (m. 2009; div. 2021)​
Children	3

Aahoo Jahansouzshahi (born January 10, 1980), who is known by her professional name Sarah Shahi, is an American actress. She is famous for her roles in many popular television shows and movies.

You might know her as Kate Reed in the legal drama Fairly Legal or as Sameen Shaw in the crime show Person of Interest. She also played Carmen on The L Word and Billie on the Netflix series .../Life. More recently, she played the superhero Adrianna Tomaz in the movie Black Adam and a key White House staff member in the film Red, White & Royal Blue.

Early Life and Family

Sarah Shahi was born with the name Aahoo Jahansouzshahi in Euless, Texas. Her father, Abbas, is from Iran, and her mother, Mahmonir, was born in Spain to an Iranian father and a Spanish mother. Because of her background, Sarah grew up speaking both Persian and English.

Her father's family had to leave Iran around the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Her parents divorced when she was ten years old. Sarah has an older brother named Cyrus and a younger sister named Samantha.

Her birth name, Aahoo, means "gazelle" in Persian. When she was in second grade, other kids teased her about her name. After hearing a song called "Sarah," she decided to use that name instead.

When she was eight, her parents started entering her into beauty pageants. In 1997, she won the Miss Fort Worth pageant. She went to Trinity High School and later studied at Southern Methodist University.

Path to Acting

Shahi at the 2012 Monte-Carlo Television Festival

Sarah always wanted to be an actress. For a year, she was a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders from 1999 to 2000. This was a big step for her, as she had never cheered before.

While working as an extra on the movie Dr. T and the Women, she met the famous director Robert Altman. He saw her potential and encouraged her to move to Hollywood to pursue her acting dream. After moving to Los Angeles, she began to get roles in TV shows.

Early Roles

Sarah appeared in several well-known series early in her career. She had roles in shows like Alias, Dawson's Creek, and Supernatural. In Supernatural, she played the very first ghost that the main characters, Sam and Dean Winchester, ever faced.

In 2005, she joined the show The L Word as Carmen de la Pica Morales, a DJ. She was a popular character on the show for two seasons.

Becoming a Star

In 2007, Sarah got her first main role in a TV series called Life. She played a homicide detective named Dani Reese for two seasons. This role helped make her more famous.

From 2011 to 2012, she starred as Kate Reed in the USA Network show Fairly Legal. Her character was a lawyer who became a mediator to help people solve problems outside of court.

A year later, she joined the cast of the hit show Person of Interest as Sameen Shaw, a skilled government agent. She started as a recurring character but soon became a main part of the show until it ended in 2016.

Recent Work

Sarah has continued to work on many exciting projects. In 2018, she starred in the science-fiction series Reverie. She also had a recurring role on the police drama The Rookie.

In 2020, she began filming the Netflix series .../Life, where she played the main character, Billie. In 2022, she joined the DCEU as the superhero Adrianna Tomaz in the movie Black Adam, acting alongside Dwayne Johnson. The next year, she appeared in the popular movie Red, White & Royal Blue as Zahra Bankston, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff.

Personal Life

Sarah Shahi married actor Steve Howey in 2009. They have three children: a son born in 2009, and boy-girl twins born in 2015. Sarah and Steve divorced in 2021.

After her divorce, Sarah began a relationship with Australian actor Adam Demos, her co-star from the show .../Life. Their relationship ended in early 2025.

Besides acting, Sarah is also skilled in martial arts. She has earned a black belt in Shorin-Ryu karate.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Sarah Shahi para niños