‘The Pitt’s’ Sepideh Moafi On Historic Emmy Nom: “Somebody Will See That the Door Is Open For Them”

Sepideh Moafi was nominated for her first Emmy Award for her role as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi on The Pitt, a strong-willed doctor who blazes into the second season of the medical series and tries to take charge of the emergency room.

The Emmy nomination itself is a dream, but so is earning it for this complex character, says Moafi, who has heard from many fans about the resonance they feel with Al-Hashimi, whether it be due to the revelation of the character living and working with a seizure disorder, her Iranian and Iraqi heritage or the way in which she consistently has to stand up to Noah Wiley’s Dr. Robby, who she is meant to temporarily replace as head of the E.R.

“I can’t imagine a more ideal world, show, character to have this sort of recognition with,” Moafi said shortly after the nominations were announced Wednesday. “Playing this woman who carries so many worlds, so many of which I can identify with in my own way, and, that I’ve heard over the last several months, so many people identify with, whether it’s with her chronic disease, her chronic illness, people with disability, people who are mixed race, people who are from the Middle East or Africa, women in medicine who are in similar positions and have to deal with certain male counterparts,” Moafi said.

“It’s just like so many different parts of a human experience are captured through this one character, and I just feel so grateful to be able to live and learn inside of her and to be acknowledged for that, for who she is, and bringing her to life. I can’t believe it’s happening, and I’m deeply grateful,” she said.

Moafi also brought elements of herself to the role, though she can’t say for sure whether or not she was a direct influence on the script. The actress was born in a refugee camp in Germany, where her parents had landed after fleeing from Iran. They later moved to the U.S., where Moafi launched her acting career while also working as an International Rescue Committee ambassador.

Onscreen, Dr. Al-Hashimi’s backstory also includes time working with Doctors Without Borders in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she witnessed an attack on a maternity ward that left her with PTSD.

“I’m not sure I influenced the specifics around her humanitarian aid work, but I do know that that was something that I had in my backstory, before I even shared it with them, and then I remember one day [R. Scott Gemmill], said, “Oh, you were born in a refugee camp, you’re a refugee, you work with the IRC, and I said, “Yeah.” And then I saw a couple episodes later, or an episode later, that that was included,” Moah said.

“I have so many friends who work across various organizations who give of themselves and go where help is needed most around the world, and I think it’s an underrepresented community, and I think especially in this moment where humanitarian aid work and workers have come under attack and been targeted. I think it’s really important to see a woman with the qualities that Dr. Al Hashimi has have that experience, and how it also sort of affects in terms of PTSD and the sort of trauma that they carry,” Moafi said.

This nomination also marks the first time an Iranian woman, as well as the first time a woman from the Middle East is recognized in the supporting actress in a drama series category, a designation that Moafi says she hopes open up more possibilities for young women.

“My mind is blown, and it just makes me so happy, the idea of exciting and inspiring and empowering so many girls all over the world to live with conviction and pursue exactly what they want, whether it’s pursuing acting or music or art, or it’s pursuing medicine,” Moafi said.

“It’s not about celebrating in my own body and my own experience. Nothing can actually capture what the feeling is. It feels deeply gratifying, just knowing that somebody will see that the door is open for them, in terms of being recognized in this way. There are no words,” she continued.

In total, The Pitt earned 25 Emmy nominations, topping the list, including nods for several of Moafi’s costars and for best drama series.