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Sarah Shahi
Born	January 10, 1980 (1980-01-10) (age 28) Euless, Texas
Occupation	Model, Actress
Height	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)

Aahoo Jahansouz Shahi, also known as Sarah Shahi (born January 10, 1980, in Euless, Texas, United States), is an American actress and model of Iranian and Spanish descent.¹ A former NFL Cheerleader, she is a great-great-granddaughter of the 19th century Iranian king Fath Ali Shah Qajar.² Shahi was named #90 on the Maxim magazine "Hot 100 of 2005" list³; she moved up to #66 in 2006.⁴ Sarah is engaged to actor Steve Howey, whom she met on the set of Reba in 2004. She has starred in The L Word and currently stars in Life.

Early life and career

Sarah Shahi was born in Euless, Texas, to Iranian father Abbas Shahi and Spanish mother.⁵ Her real given name, Aahoo, is the Persian for gazelle. She was 10 years old when her parents divorced. She attended Trinity High School and Dallas' Southern Methodist University, majoring in English and Opera ⁶. Shahi started her career as a beauty queen during her teen years. She won the Miss Fort Worth USA pageant in 1997. She joined the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders 1999–2000 squad and appeared on the cover of their 2000 calendar.

Acting career

While working as an extra on the set of Dr. T and the Women, she met director Robert Altman, who encouraged her to move to Hollywood. Sarah then moved to Los Angeles. Once in L.A., she got various recurrent roles in several famous series, such as Alias, where she played Jenny, and Dawson's Creek, where she was Sadia Shaw. Shahi was also the first ghost in Supernatural, the CW paranormal drama series.

She is best known for her role as the Mexican-American DJ Carmen de la Pica Morales in the Showtime drama television series The L Word, which she joined in its second season. Sarah did not renew her contract with the L Word for the fourth season, and consequently her character was written out.

She also played the role of Farah in the second season of Sleeper Cell. She also appeared in HBO's The Sopranos, in the Season 6b episode "Kennedy and Heidi", as Sonya Aragon, a stripper and college student who spends a weekend with Tony after a death in his family.

Although uncredited by most sources, Sarah also appeared in the Jackie Chan movie Rush Hour 3 as one of the girls being handcuffed along with Mia Tyler for motoring offense by Chris Tucker early in the film.

Sarah speaks English, Persian, and some Spanish although she lived with her Spanish mother after her parents divorced, and has a brown belt in karate.

Sarah currently stars opposite Damian Lewis, in the NBC television series Life, which debuted in the U.S. in late September 2007, and which has been renewed for a second season for the fall of 2008.

Filmography

• Dr. T and the Women (2000) as an uncredited cheerleader
• City Guys: "Shock Treatment" (2000-11-04) as Cheerleader
• Spin City: "Blind Faith" (2000-11-15) as Bachelorette
• Boston Public: "Chapter Eleven" (2001-01-22) as Laura
• Off Centre: "A Cute Triangle" (2001-11-18) as Angelica
• Maybe It's Me: "The Exchange-Student" (2001-12-07) as Rosa
• Alias (2001–2002, seven episodes) as Jenny, a budding journalist.
• Class of '06 (2002, undeveloped pilot) as Meg
• Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003) as Becky, a Delta-Nu sister
• Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central): "Chinese Baby" (2002-06-05) as TV Diva
• Frasier: "Door Jam" (2003-01-07) as Reservationist
• Old School (2003) as Erica
• Dawson's Creek (2003, four episodes) as Sadia Shaw, a journalist.
• ER: "The Greater Good" (2003-11-06) as Tara King
• Reba: "To Tell You the Truth" (2004-01-23) as Kate
• Century City: "Sweet Child of Mine" (2004-04-06) as Ms. Morris
• A Lot Like Love (2005) as Starlet
• Plan B (2005, undeveloped pilot) as Bronwyn
• Supernatural: "Pilot" (2005-09-13) as The Woman in White/Constance Welsh
• The L Word (2005–2007) as Carmen de la Pica Morales
• Teachers (2006, six episodes) as Tina
• Damages (2006, undeveloped pilot) as Jennifer Carillo
• The Dog Problem (2006) as Candy
• For Your Consideration (2006) as Wake Up Host
• Sleeper Cell (2006) as Farah
• Reba: "Cheyenne's Rival" (2007-01-28) as Bridget
• The Sopranos: "Kennedy and Heidi" (2007-05-13) as Sonya Aragon
• Life (2007—) as Dani Reese
• AmericanEast (2007) as Salwah Marzoke
• Shades of Ray (2007) as Sana Khaliq
• The Adventures of Beatle Boyin (2007) as Carla
• Rush Hour 3 (2007) as Zoe (uncredited)

Print work

• Curve
• Maxim
• Muscular Development
• Men's Fitness

References

7. http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/column/2006/1/quote-shane.html

External links

• Sarah Shahi at the Internet Movie Database
• The LWord Online Biography
• History of Iran: Qajar Dynasty