It’s been over a week now since the season two finale of “The Pitt” aired, and Sepideh Moafi is still sorting through messages from viewers. The actor joined the hit HBO series for its second season as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, who remained a mystery for much of the season until the final few episodes, when her seizure disorder was revealed.
“I’ve been so beautifully overwhelmed by the number of messages I’ve been getting from people who carry chronic conditions or chronic illnesses and deal with seizure disorders, and the kind of visibility that this role brings,” Moafi says over Zoom from her New York apartment. “The thing that was important to me going in was creating visibility for a type of health care worker, a type of doctor that travels abroad and works in conflict zones, humanitarian doctors.
“But to have this kind of reaction and visibility for people who have been managing this condition their whole lives has been so just incredibly potent and beautiful. It’s why I do what I do and why I want to do this, is to make people feel like their stories are reflected on screen or on stage and make people feel less alone and people feel seen.”
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The 40-year-old actor, known for roles in “The Deuce” and “The L Word: Generation Q,” was initially invited to audition for the first season of “The Pitt” but opted out as she’s never been interested in medical dramas.
“It never resonated with me. And also, I don’t have the best associations with hospitals,” she says. “I don’t want to spend more time in the hospital than I’ve had to. I was just clear that it was not my world and that’s not what I wanted. And then I watched the show and I was like, ‘Oh, OK, this is not your typical [medical show].’”
Moafi hopes that the journey Al-Hashimi goes on over the course of the season has inspired people beyond just those who see themselves in her.
“She makes so much more sense at the end of this 15-hour shift. I hope that we carry that curiosity and that realization into our lives every day and the way that we treat each other, because we’re all caring so much, and there’s so much behind the surface that we don’t reveal,” she says. “I hope we go a little gentler with each other and with ourselves.”
The actor was especially drawn to Al-Hashimi’s background as a humanitarian doctor. Moafi was born in a refugee camp in Germany after her parents were forced to flee Iran in the years following the 1979 revolution. She was a baby when they landed in the U.S., but her family’s journey has always played a major role in her life, and she’s been involved with the International Rescue Committee since she was a teen.
“Even though I grew up in the States, my family’s history and that background and how I came into the world has obviously colored the lens in which I see the world and relate to the world, how it’s my own privilege, because it really is luck. Why were we given the opportunity to restart and rebuild?” she says.
“That’s something that’s lived inside of me my entire life. I was moved by the work that the IRC did and does, working to give life-saving humanitarian aid to people living in conflict, struck by humanitarian disaster, but also helping people resettle and rebuild their lives around the world, those who are granted asylum.”
Moafi admits to equal parts intimidation and excitement when she first arrived on set as the new person for season two.
“First of all, walking into this role where I’m the only other day shift attending opposite Dr. Robby, Noah Wyle, who spent a lot of his career playing a doctor, and me not knowing anything about the world from a doctor’s perspective…that was incredibly intimidating,” Moafi says. “But the nice thing about getting older in your life and having more experience in your career is that you realize you fully throw yourself in and you have to trust that you’re supported. And we were supported with an army of doctors and nurses who were on set at all times. I had so many resources, so many friends and people that I met because of this role. And you just throw yourself into the work head first and do everything you can and trust your process, trust your own instincts and my expertise as an actor, and then just know that I’m supported in this and that I need to ask for help when I need it. So there was something overwhelming and intimidating, but also reassuring and confidence boosting about being on that set.”
She’s now taking that confidence back to the stage, her comfort zone, in the play “New Born” at the Minetta Lane Theater with Hugh Jackman and Marianna Gailus. The production, which runs from May 8 through June 8, features three monologues written by British playwright Ella Hickson.
While most of the rehearsal time has been individual, given the monologue format, Moafi recalls arriving back in New York after shooting “The Pitt” in Los Angeles and instantly reconnecting with the community of theater.
“I showed up and it was one of those glorious New York moments where you’re just all in the room and creative energy is just exploding through the room,” she says. “We read the play and there were all these little serendipitous things that happened. And I was like, ‘stick a fork in me, I’m so content.’”
