“The Pitt” is gearing up for a “temperature shift” in Season 3, newly minted Emmy nominee Sepideh Moafi teased just hours after receiving her first nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for her role as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi.
“All I can say is that things have definitely shifted — there is a temperature shift. There is a tonal shift,” Moafi told TheWrap on Wednesday morning. “I’m excited, like you, like everyone else, to see how it unfolds, because I’ve only seen the first few episodes, but … let’s just say this, the four months were full and productive and necessary, so I’m excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds.”
“The Pitt” quickly became an Emmys favorite with its first season, and Moafi joined a number of her peers who were recognized for their performances on the HBO Max medical drama. In fact, “The Pitt” received the most Emmy nominations on Wednesday with 25 total nods, which included 13 acting nominations, more than quadruple the number for Season 1.
“Oh my god, I’m over the moon. I can’t believe it. I’m still sort of slowly absorbing this information,” Moafi said. “I feel so honored, and just deeply grateful to be part of this ensemble, to be part of this group across all departments, and I don’t say that lightly … everyday that I go to work, I’m just in awe of the level of professionalism and competence across all of our departments and our crew.”
Moafi gave special shoutouts to writers Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and Valerie Chu and co-star Noah Wyle for his directing nod, noting that she’ll be with the cast and crew tomorrow. “I hope we just get to continue to bask in the wonder and the glory of this moment, and the show, and the way that all of our work is being recognized.”
With Wednesday’s nod, Moafi stands as the first Iranian woman and first woman from the Middle East/North Africa to be recognized in the supporting actress in a drama series category — an acknowledgement she admits “melts [her] mind.”
“I’m so happy to be able to hold this torch for all these other girls that will follow, and … hopefully empower and embolden them to pursue what they love, whether it’s acting or singing or medicine,” she said. “Just to give that visibility to people who have a similar background to me, who have a similar background to my character, it’s so beautiful. I’m so grateful.”
Below, Moafi unpacks the “intimidating” task of joining “The Pitt” cast and reveals the “relief” she felt to let Dr. Al-Hashimi’s secret out at the end of Season 2.
TheWrap: You jumped into a very established show with a hefty character who doesn’t always bend to what’s already going on. What were the biggest challenges of jumping into the cast in this role?
Moafi: It was intimidating at first, but they hired me to be the actor playing the doctor. I think, in the beginning, I had this quick spasm of fear, because I’m like I’m not a doctor, how am I going to cram all this medical knowledge into 15 years of experience into a week of training before we start, but … we’re so supported, and it’s not about the individual on this set, it’s about the whole group — like any hospital, actually, and so we really have to lean on each other. We have to lean on our medical advisors and our nurses, many of whom are acting in scenes with us as co-stars and guest stars. It was a bit scary at first, and then as soon as I got into the flow of it, I was like, “Oh, okay … we just need to be on top of our game,” and, it’s like we’re doctors — be on your stuff like you’re a doctor — so it’s quite appropriate, actually.”
Dr. Al-Hashimi is very much positioned as a dueling leader to Dr. Robby, and over time, viewers have pointed out how Al-Hashimi helped show the cracks in Dr. Robby’s methods and some of his biases. Have you felt the response to your character change as more time from the season goes on?
Oh my gosh, totally. In the beginning, there were like hate campaigns for this poor woman. I think it was Episode 10, the episode that I had the slash trach[eostomy] on the kid, where even Dr. Robby was impressed — I think that’s when people started to turn a bit, and then towards the end of the season, in Episodes 14 and 15, when people got to peek past the curtain of her life and her experience and her conditions, what she’s been managing, and the level of just sheer brilliance and competence that she must have in order to do everything she’s done, accomplish everything she’s accomplished with this condition, I think that earned a lot of respect from people.
And also just her raising these larger issues, concerns, arguments about why she’s being undermined — it’s one thing to question somebody who throughout the season, not in the last episode, but the way that it seemed like Dr. Robby was determined to dismiss her or to undermine her, I think that also won some people over, because they could see how unfair it was, and how … he forces her to be an underdog … because no matter what she does, she can’t seem to win him over or earn his respect. But then at the end, obviously, it’s pretty devastating, the way things unfolded. I’m excited to make it all right this season.
Dr. Al-Hashimi is very even-keeled for the majority of the season but the cracks in her come out with that confrontation with Dr. Robby and that heartbreaking moment in the car. What was it like opening up that part of the character? How did you approach those scenes?
It was a bit of a relief, to be honest, to let that part slip out a little bit more, because I’ve been holding it in so tight throughout the entire season, throughout this entire shift, and as actors … we do what we do usually, because we’re good with our emotions, we’re good with emoting, but with this character, the challenge lived in the fact that she doesn’t reveal her emotions. She keeps things tightly held under the surface, and so, because of the power of filmmaking and cameras, we’re able to get a sense that there’s something beneath the surface, because of close-ups and lingering shots, but other than that, if you met her in real life, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell there’s something going on with her. She’s really good at hiding, she’s good at pretending everything’s okay.
And so when Episodes 14 and 15 came, the fact that she didn’t have to hide as much, and me, as the actor, didn’t have to hold it together as much, that actually it felt somewhat of a relief … although navigating how much to reveal and where, that’s where the challenge lived. At the end, getting to let it all out in the car was painful, but necessary.
Any intel on what happened to Baby Jane Doe?
(Laughs.) You know, I’m not the person to ask.
