The amazing Azita Ghanizada and her family got out of Afghanistan while the Soviets were on their way in, and were granted asylum in the US, settling in Virginia. Learning English by watching television, she always dreamed of an acting career, but didn’t pursue anything until after college graduation. From 2005-2007, she had one-episode parts in The Closer, Numb3rs, Bones, and Veronica Mars, before landing the role of Dr. Saira Batra in General Hospital: Night Shift in 2008, a spin-off of the daytime drama. From 2009-2012, she did another round of small bits in big series, including How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, Psych, Ghost Whisperer, Castle, NCIS: Los Angeles, Friends with Benefits, and Body of Proof. From 2011-2012, she took a lead in the Syfy TV series Alphas as Rachel Prizard, getting down to her white lace-and-satin bra and panty set. More series followed, among them The Mentalist, Major Crimes, 9-1-1, Elementary, a two-episode arc as Saphia Mena in Ballers in 2019, the updated Magnum P.I., and the United States of Al in 2021. The 5’5” stunner also captured the regular role of Kendra Zahir in the Freeform series Good Trouble from 2019-2020. As smart as she is beautiful, in 2017 Azita was instrumental in getting the MENA category build into the SAG-AFTRA theatrical contracts—MENA: Middle Eastern, North African—the first time a new diversity category had been introduced into Hollywood in 37 years. She’s also the founder of the MENA Arts Advocacy Coalition, a resource that helps train and educate the movers and shakers in Hollywood about the category; she even gave a TEDx talk in 2020. That Ted sure is a lucky guy!
