Aahoo Jahansouzshahi (Persian: آهو جهانسوز شاهی; born January 10, 1980), known professionally as Sarah Shahi (سارا شاهی‎), is an American actress and former model. She played Carmen on The L Word in 2005, Kate Reed in the USA Network legal drama Fairly Legal (2011–2012), and Sameen Shaw on the CBS crime drama Person of Interest (2012–2016). She has also appeared in the main role Det. Dani Reese in Life, and in a supporting role in Alias. In 2018, she starred in the series Reverie. In 2019, she appeared in a recurring role in City on a Hill on Showtime and appeared in seven episodes of the series The Rookie as romantic interest Jessica Russo.

Early life
Sarah Shahi was born Aahoo Jahansouzshahi on January 10, 1980 and raised in Euless, Texas, U.S. She is the daughter of Abbas Jahansouzshahi and Mahmonir Soroushazar, an interior designer, who divorced when she was ten. Her father is from Iran. Her father's family left Iran two years before the Iranian Revolution. Her father, who was working at the American embassy in Iran, was slated for execution when the last Shah's regime collapsed in 1979, but was able to flee the country. Her mother was born in Spain, to an Iranian father and a Spanish mother. Shahi has an older brother, Cyrus, and a younger sister, Samantha, who is a production assistant. Her birth name, Aahoo (Persian: آهو), means 'deer' in Persian. Shahi adopted Sarah as her name in second grade after hearing a song called "Sarah" because she was "tormented" by other children about her birth name, Aahoo. At her father's behest, she grew up speaking Farsi, in addition to English. Shahi's parents began entering her in beauty pageants at the age of eight. Shahi attended Trinity High School, and Southern Methodist University. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega during her time at SMU. Shahi won the Miss Fort Worth pageant in 1997. Hoping to become an actress, she joined the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (1999–2000) squad despite not having cheered before. Later, she moved to Los Angeles.