It’s been a little over a month since The Pitt season two finale aired, and I stand by my diagnosis that this season was not as good as the first. It wasn’t bad, but part of what made the first season so good was the feeling that it was as close to a documentary as a scripted show could get. Whereas this season, there were several moments that felt more TV than truthful, imo. What I did love this season were the new characters, the biggest one being Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, the attending stepping in for Dr. Robby, if/when he ever actually leaves for his sabbatical. The dynamic of Al-Hashami and Robby’s polar opposite teaching and doctoring styles was a great set up. On any issue, be it treating or charting, each doctor advocated for a different approach. Again, I enjoyed it from a storytelling perspective. But apparently some fans thought it was written because of a feud between the actors, Noah Wyle and Sepideh Moafi? In a new interview with Variety, Moafi flatly rejected that claim:
No feud: The fan-fiction theory held that Dr. Al-Hashimi’s arc was a form of retribution for the supposed off-screen rift. Speaking with Variety on Zoom from her apartment in New York City, Moafi shuts it down without hesitation. “Absolutely not,” she says. “I do not have that power. We’re really great colleagues. Noah and I have always had a great working relationship, which is why it actually felt safe to do the darker, dirtier work in episode 15, particularly because, between setups, we were shooting the sh-t and laughing. So that’s completely false that there’s a personal sort of beef or rivalry between us, at least not that I’m aware of. You can check with Noah, but I don’t know about this.”
An Emmy nom for Moafi would be historic: If nominated in the supporting actress category, Moafi would become the first Persian actress and the first Middle Eastern performer overall recognized in the category. Asked what that recognition would mean, one name comes to mind: Toni Morrison. “As Toni Morrison says, this is not a grab bag candy game,” Moafi says. “It’s not about me, and I get this, and look at how great I am. For me, it’s so much about showing what the next generation, showing what with girls in Iran, showing girls in Afghanistan, showing girls in the U.S., like we are visible, we are here, we’re unstoppable, and we’re f–king good. … We want the visibility that we exist, that we’re here, that we are the DNA of, in this case, the United States. What it means to be American is to look like me, and to look like you, and it’s not a monolith.”
She’s so cool and punk: Moafi originally trained as an opera singer, and her mother cried when she told her she was switching from music to acting. “She started crying, and she’s like, ‘No, but your voice,’” Moafi recalls. “But she also said, ‘You can’t take your shirt off.’” She has always marched to the beat of her own drum. Moafi says she was bullied relentlessly in grade school, but that didn’t stop her from doing things people assumed she wasn’t capable of, like joining the junior high wrestling team. “I went and I tried out for wrestling, and I remember the coach was like, ‘You know, volleyball’s in the other gym,’ and I said, ‘I know.’ And he’s like, ‘OK, OK,’” she says. “I made it co-ed because I was the only girl on the team.”
There’s a meme of her curls being the new Rachel Green hair moment: “Oh my God, I did not see that. I’m obsessed, and I’m so honored, because growing up watching ‘Friends,’ the Rachel Green hair was everything,” she says. “How many people throughout my career, when I wear my hair curly, have said, ‘Oh my God, you’ve inspired me to wear my hair curly.’ It’s crazy to me that we have any shame or hesitation, because we’ve been told that this is what beauty looks like.”
I had never heard of or seen Sepideh Moafi in anything before The Pitt (apparently she had a big role in The Deuce, any bitches watch that?), and I really enjoyed getting to know her through this article. Strolling up to the all-boys wrestling team for try outs is such a boss power move! I had a slightly similar experience in high school, though obviously not in the field of sports (that’s a comment on me, not sports). As a freshman I auditioned for the mock trial team, but only as a lawyer, cause that’s the only part I was interested in. Older kids kept yapping at me that no freshmen are ever made lawyers and that I simply had to audition to be a witness if I wanted to join. Guess who ended up being the only freshman on the team and a lawyer? (My gosh, where has that confidence gone…) Anyway, I don’t think Sepideh will be getting an Emmy nom this time — Katherine LaNasa was fire this season — but let’s hope this is just the start of more work to come. And YES, curly hair pride forever!
Photos credit: Warrick Page/HBO Max via WB Press, Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images, Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon
She was also great in the L Word.
She’s a talented as f*ck and she’s such a pretty young woman. I don’t know if someone is trying to undermine NW but he has rumors of him not getting along with his female leads/counterparts from Kellie Martin to (denied) rumors of he and Tracy not getting along to this with Sepideh. It’s weird. I hope the show’s next season finds a better balance with the lead Robby’s emotional and mental health and the other characters. Because in MY opinion other characters were short changed. They may have to show more moments away from the hospital, just for the last one to two final episodes. Idk. Something to keep the show interesting because the actors at top tier level.