Aahoo Jahansouz "Sarah" Shahi (born January 10, 1980) is an American actress and a former NFL Cheerleader. She is probably best known for starring in The L Word as Carmen de la Pica Morales and in Life as Detective Dani Reese. In 2011 she began playing the role of Kate Reed in the legal drama Fairly Legal on the USA Network.
Shahi adopted Sarah as her name in second grade after hearing the song "Sarah" because she was "tormented" by other children,[1] but grew up speaking Persian as well as English at her father's insistence. Shahi's
Shahi's parents began entering her in beauty pageants at the age of eight Her parents divorced when she was 10. Shahi attended Trinity High School, where she was captain of the volleyball and basketball teams, and Dallas' Southern Methodist University, majoring in English and Theater.
She co-starred in the short-lived NBC series Life as homicide detective Dani Reese
In October 2009, Shahi landed the lead role in the USA Network pilot, Facing Kate. Shahi began filming in November 2009. The show follows the life of Kate Reed, a legal mediator who is frustrated with the bureaucracy and injustice she witnesses in the legal system. The series title was later changed to Fairly Legal
