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8Aahoo Jahansouz "Sarah" Shahi (Persian: آهو جهانسوز سارا شاهی‎, born January 10, 1980 in Euless, Texas) is an American television actress and former [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]] Cheerleader of Iranian and Spanish descent.
9
10She's perhaps best-known for her scene-stealing roles in ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' and ''Series/TheLWord'', both shows which resulted in her being upgraded from a guest star to a regular. She also played the lead in ''Series/FairlyLegal'' as [[HelloAttorney Kate Reed]], and has had many notable supporting roles in Film and Television.
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12She was married to fellow actor Creator/SteveHowey, and they have a son named William Wolf Howey, born in 2009 (necessitating her pregnancy [[HideYourPregnancy being hidden]] on ''{{Series/Life|2007}}'''s second season) and twins Violet and Knox, born in March 2015. She and Howie filed for divorce in May 2020. Their divorce was finalized in January 2021. As of 2021, she is dating her costar on ''Series/SexLife'', Creator/AdamDemos.
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14
15!!Tropes
16* ActorSharedBackground: Sarah is the child of an Iranian father and Spanish mother. In three roles so far her character's stated to be half-Iranian (though in both cases it's on her mother's side instead, explaining their Western last names). They all also speak Farsi, like her.
17** In ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' she played Sameen Shaw who, like Shahi, also has the initials [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal S.S.]] Her frequent use of football metaphors ("I know this went sideways, Finch, but you can't bench me for every mistake." "You go through identities like they're Dixie Cups, but I'm one and done?") are a reference to her former career as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
18** Dani Reese in ''{{Series/Life|2007}}''.
19** Billie in ''Series/SexLife'' turns out to be half-Persian on her dad's side.
20* AlliterativeName: '''S'''arah '''S'''hahi. Further, she played Sameen Shaw on ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' as well.
21* TheCastShowoff:
22** An episode of ''Series/{{Life|2007}}'' makes good use of her fluency in Farsi when her character speaks to a mother and daughter who are Persians.
23** An episode of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' has her speaking to a cab driver in Farsi.
24* CastingGag: Twice during ''Series/{{Reba}}'' Cheyenne and Van's marriage was tested by another woman. The first time was Kate, a business associate of Van's that Cheyenne was insanely jealous of. The second was a woman named Bridgit, who was a former classmate of theirs (and enemy of Cheyenne) who made a pass at Van to torment Cheyenne. Both characters were played by Shahi, who became Steve Howey's (Van's actor) wife (although they were only dating/engaged at the time, and have since divorced).
25* EmbarrassingFirstName: She changed her name from "Aahoo" to "Sarah" as a child to avoid being teased; "Aahoo" sounds a little too much like a sneeze.
26* FairCop: On ''Series/{{Life|2007}}'' she played Detective Dani Reese of the LAPD. Later on ''Series/{{The Rookie|2018}}'' she played FBIAgent Jessica Russo.
27* HelloAttorney: As Kate Reed in ''Series/FairlyLegal'' and Renee Royce in ''Series/ChicagoFire''.
28* HideYourPregnancy / RealLifeWritesThePlot:
29** She was pregnant during the last episodes of season two's ''Series/{{Life|2007}}'', so she was quickly written into a storyline of being interviewed by the FBI and wasn't shown standing up for the rest of the season.
30** It happened ''again'' on ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', after she wound up pregnant with twins during the fourth season; there was a lot of sitting down and standing behind counters. When standing, she was mostly framed from the chest up and wore a lot of black outfits with coats over them when they had to do full body shots.[[note]]You can tell the wardrobe department breathed a sigh of relief once they got past summer and were able to film in cooler weather.[[/note]] She was written out of the show midway through the season with her character's fate left deliberately ambiguous to allow them to bring her back later, and she returned the following season. Shahi told interviewers they considered simply writing it into the series, though since Shaw's very far from the maternal type this didn't go through.
31* MsFanservice: Shahi was once a member of the [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders]][[note]]aka ''the'' NFL cheer squad, nicknamed America's Sweethearts[[/note]], has won numerous [[BeautyContest beauty competitions]], was Miss Fort Worth USA, is frequently ranked as one of the most gorgeous women in the world, and willingly will show nudity. Thus she's played many examples with varying degrees of nudity, sex scenes, skimpy clothes and suggestiveness (see e.g. ''Series/TheLWord'', ''{{Series/Life|2007}}'', ''Series/FairlyLegal'', ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', ''Series/SexLife'').
32* RomanceOnTheSet: Shahi began dating her costar on ''Series/SexLife'', Adam Demos, during filming.
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35! Selected Filmography
36
37!!Film Roles
38* 2003 – ''Film/OldSchool'' as Erica
39* 2003 – ''[[Film/LegallyBlonde Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde]]'' as Becky, Delta Nu sister
40* 2005 – ''Film/ALotLikeLove'' as Starlet
41* 2006 – ''Film/ForYourConsideration'' as Sanchez
42* 2007 – ''[[Film/RushHour Rush Hour 3]]'' as Zoe
43* 2012 – ''Film/{{Static}}'' as Adele Dade
44* 2012 – ''Film/BulletToTheHead'' as Lisa Bonomo
45* 2015 – ''Film/DivineAccess'' as Marian
46* 2022 - ''Film/{{Black Adam|2022}}'' as Adrianna Tomaz / Isis
47* 2023 - ''Film/RedWhiteAndRoyalBlue'' as Zahra Bankston
48
49!!Television Roles
50* 2000 - ''Series/CityGuys'' as Cheerleader
51* 2000 - ''Series/SpinCity'' as Bachelorette
52* 2001 - ''Series/BostonPublic'' as Laura
53* 2001 - ''Series/OffCentre'' as Angelica
54* 2001–2002 – ''Series/{{Alias}}'' as Jenny
55* 2003 – ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' as Sadie Shaw
56* 2003 - ''Series/{{ER}}'' as Tara King
57* 2004, 2007 - ''Series/{{Reba}}'' as Kate / Bridget
58* 2005 - ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' as Constance Welch / The Woman in White
59* 2005–2009 – ''Series/TheLWord'' as Carmen de la Pica Morales
60* 2006 - ''Series/{{Teachers|2006}}'' as Tina Torres
61* 2006 - ''Series/SleeperCell'' as Farrah
62* 2007 - ''Series/TheSopranos'' as Sonya Aragon
63* 2007-2009 – ''Series/{{Life|2007}}'' as Dani Reese
64* 2010 – ''Series/{{Psych}}'' as Ruby
65* 2011-2012 – ''Series/FairlyLegal'' as Kate Reed
66* 2011 - ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'' as Killer Frost (voice)
67* 2012-2013 – ''Series/ChicagoFire'' as Renee Royce
68* 2013-2016 - ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' as Sameen Shaw
69* 2015 - ''Series/RayDonovan'' as Hasmig
70* 2016 - ''Series/{{Pitch}}'' as Natalie Luongo
71* 2018 - ''Series/{{Reverie}}'' as Mara Kint
72* 2019 - ''Series/TheRookie2018'' as Jessica Russo
73* 2019 - ''Series/CityOnAHill'' as Rachel Benham
74* 2021 - ''Series/SexLife'' as Billie Connelly

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