“The Pitt” Season 2 star Sepideh Moafi recently told People that her first agent told her to change her name so that she could land more roles.
“When I graduated from grad school, my first agent wanted me to change my name and I immediately said, ‘Fuck no,’” she recalled. “I know actors who have changed their names and there’s no judgment there. And I know a lot of actors, specifically people of color, who have been expected to change their name and haven’t.”
She explained that for anyone, the decision to change their name is “complicated,” and added, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people who decide to do it.”
Popular on Variety
For her own sake, Moafi said, “It felt like they needed me to be someone different in order to work or to sell something. I refused. I continued, and I ended up booking my first job and then my second and third, and having a beautiful, varied career as a result.”
On “The Pitt” Season 2, Moafi plays Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, an attending physician set to replace Noah Wyle’s Dr. Michael Robinavitch while he’s away on sabbatical. Her other TV credits include “The Deuce,” “The L Word: Generation Q” and “Black Bird.”
