Born Aahoo Jahansouzshahi on January 10, 1980 in Euless, Texas, Sarah Shahi is an actress of Iranian and Spanish descent. She was educated at Southern Methodist University and in 1997, she won the Miss Fort Worth USA pageant. In 1999, after studying opera, she became a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and later on appeared on the cover of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders 2000 Swimsuit Calendar. Shahi was advised by director Robert Altman to move to LA to pursue an acting career, and thereafter moved there to appear on recurrent roles in series such as
Dawson's Creek and
Alias . She gained more popularity after she was cast for the role of Carmen de la Pica Morales in the drama series The L Word. In 2007, she was cast for the new NBC series, Life where she plays Dani Reese.
Dani Reese is played by Sarah Shahi on the new NBC series Life. Dani is the partner of Charlie Crews, a former cop who was placed in jail for a crime he did not commit. She has to deal with the depth of his personality, as he experienced a complete turnaround, being given a second chance at his career, while his former coworkers scorn his return. Together, Charlie and Dani are on the hunt for the real criminal whose sentence Charlie had wrongfully paid for in jail.
(Photo courtesy of NBC)