Sarah Shahi

Sarah Shahi was born Aahoo Jahansouzshahi, which means “gazelle” in Persian. She was born and raised in Texas and adopted the name Sarah in the second grade. Shahi studied English and theater at Southern Methodist University and was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader before breaking into the acting world in 2000.

Her first big role was playing Jenny on Alias. She rose to fame after playing Carmen de la Pica Morales on The L Word from 2005 to 2006. Shahi has since starred on Life as Dani Reese, Fairly Legal as Kate Reed, Person of Interest as Sameen Shaw, Chicago Fire as Renee Royce and The Rookie as Jessica Russo.

Shahi’s role as Billie Connelly in Netflix’s Sex/Life threw her even more into the limelight for her portrayal of the sexually-charged character who must choose between her married life or the steamy sex life she once had.

Shahi was married to actor Steve Howey for 11 years before Us Weekly broke the news in June 2020 that they split. The actress shares three children — son William and twins Violet and Knox — with the Shameless actor. Us exclusively confirmed in January 2021 that their divorce was finalized.

The Black Adam actress began dating her Sex/Life costar Adam Demos in the fall of 2020 after they met on the set of the Netflix show. The pair went public with their romance on New Year’s Eve via social media.