Azita Ghanizada

Azita Ghanizada (born 1978 or 1979)^[1] is an American television, film and stage actress. She is known for her work on the television series Alphas,^[2] and the Broadway musical The Kite Runner. In addition to her acting work, Ghanizada is also the founder and President of the MENA Arts Advocacy Coalition.^[3]

Azita Ghanizada
Born	1978 or 1979 (age 45–46)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2004–present
Organization	MENA Arts Advocacy Coalition

Life and career

Ghanizada's life in America began as a political asylum seeker. The relationships her father made working at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran afforded her family the opportunity to flee Afghanistan when she was a baby. She learned most of her English from watching American television in the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. It was this learning from American T.V., combined with the family's regular trips to a local cinema that showed Bollywood movies, and her mother's passionate love of Indian and American film stars, that inspired Ghanizada to become an actress.^[4] She relocated to Los Angeles, California and began her on-camera career by working in television commercials and guest starring on popular television shows.^[4] A few of her notable television guest-starring roles include How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, Veronica Mars, The Mentalist, Psych, Ghost Whisperer, Castle, and Up All Night. In 2016, she was named "One of The 7 Sundance Break-out Actresses You Need to Know,"^[5] for her work in "Complete Unknown."

Her first main role on television was in 2008, when Ghanizada joined the cast of the General Hospital prime-time spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift for season 2 as Dr. Saira Batra, a specialist in holistic medicine.^[6] The following year, she joined the all-star cast of the television pilot Tough Trade starring opposite Sam Shepard and Cary Elwes, from Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, and executive producer T Bone Burnett. In 2010, she joined David Strathairn as a primary cast member of the American Syfy Channel series Alphas where she played Rachel Pirzad, a woman with enhanced sensory abilities.^[7] Alphas was picked up to series in 2011 but only lasted two seasons. She went on to film the comedy pilot Ellen More or Less in 2014 as a primary cast member for NBC directed by Peyton Reed, the television pilot was not picked up to series. In 2016, Azita appeared in the feature Complete Unknown opposite Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon, in 2017 she began production on Kevin Smith's feature film KillRoy Was Here.^[8] In 2019, she began recurring roles on both Ballers and Good Trouble.^[9]

In 2022, she made her Broadway Debut in the stage adaptation of The Kite Runner on Broadway, cast as Soraya (original).^[10] In 2024, it was announced that she was joining "Suits: L.A." as Roslyn Noori ^[11]

Ghanizada is also a notable Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) advocate for Middle Eastern North African (MENA) and South West Asian North African (SWANA) performers in Hollywood, and activist for women in Afghanistan. In 2016, she founded the MENA Arts Advocacy Coalition, MAAC; and in 2017 she succeeded in lobbying the Screen Actors Guild and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (SAG-AFTRA) with other performers to include MENA as its own diverse category in theatrical contracts. This success marked the first new hiring category in a labor contract in 37 years.^[12] She also works as a global Ambassador for "Women for Women International", focusing on getting women in Afghanistan back to work and educated.^[13]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	A Kiss on the Nose	Chiara	Short film
2007	X's & O's	Anita
2010	You, Only Better...	Kali Parker
2011	Blood Shot	Zahra
2016	Complete Unknown	Ramina	film
2020	Our Friend	Elizabeth	biography
2022	KillRoy Was Here[8]	Sarah	film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	The Closer	Neighbor	Episode: "Batter Up"
2006	Numbers	Prita	Episode: "Harvest"
2007	Bones	Girlfriend	Episode: "The Man in the Mansion"
2007	The Wedding Bells	Jody	Episode: "Wedding from Hell"
2007	Veronica Mars	Amira Krimani	Episode: "Un-American Graffiti"
2008	General Hospital: Night Shift	Dr. Saira Batra	14 episodes
2009	How I Met Your Mother	Sexy Female Cop	Episode: "As Fast as She Can"
2009	Entourage	Kelly	Episode: "Amongst Friends"
2009	Psych	Mina	Episode: "Bollywood Homicide"
2009	Ghost Whisperer	Charee	Episode: "Devil's Bargain"
2010	Tough Trade	Sabina	TV movie
2010	Castle	Mistress Sapphire	Episode: "The Mistress Always Spanks Twice"
2010	NCIS: Los Angeles	Rochelle Stanton	Episode: "Disorder"
2011	Friends with Benefits	Tasi	Episode: "The Benefit of Full Disclosure"
2011–2012	Alphas	Rachel Pirzad	Main role
2012	Body of Proof	Annabelle Kip	Episode: "Cold Blooded"
2012	Up All Night	Natasha	Episode: "The Game of Life"
2013	The Mentalist	Defiance	Episode: "Green Thumb"
2014	Major Crimes	Angela Soames	Episode: "Frozen Assets"
2014	Ellen More or Less	Lucy	Pilot
2016	I Love Dick	Sahar	Episode: "Cowboys and Nomads"
2017	Wisdom of the Crowd	Tanya	Episode: "User Bias"
2018	9-1-1	Kelly Wesson	Episode: "Let Go"
2018	Elementary	Dr. Sepi Chamanara	Episode: "The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out"
2019	Baller	Saphia Mena	2 Episodes
2019–2020	Good Trouble	Kendra Zahir	5 episodes
2020	Magnum P.I	Maxine Gilbert	Episode: "May The Best One Win"
2021–2022	United States of Al	Ariana	8 Episodes

References

1. "UVa, Tech Grads Land Jobs on Soap Opera Spinoffs". The Daily Progress. Washington Post News Service. October 5, 2008. p. C11. Ghanizada, 29, emigrated from Afghanistan as a baby when her family was granted asylum in the United States.
2. "Book Azita Ghanizada for Speaking, Events and Appearances". APB Speakers.
3. "Azita Ghanizada | Women for Women International". www.womenforwomen.org. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
4. Grundey, Adam (May 1, 2011). "Azita Ghanizada's Rise to Alpha Female". Rolling Stone Middle East. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
5. "The 7 Sundance Break-Out Actresses You Need to Know". InsideHook. January 28, 2016.
6. Krystal, Becky (October 5, 2008). "At This Hospital, Virginia Doctors Are In". The Washington Post. Washington DC: WPC. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2011. Ghanizada, 29
7. Radish, Christina (July 8, 2011). "Azita Ghanizada Interview ALPHAS". Collider. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
8. McNary, Dave (June 15, 2017). "Kevin Smith Filming Horror Movie 'Killroy Was Here' at Florida College". Variety. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
9. https://tvline.com/2019/07/31/good-trouble-season-2-episode-8-azita-ghanizada-specuklate/%5B‍%5D ^{[bare URL]}
10. "The Kite Runner's Azita Ghanizada Makes Emotional Curtain Call Speech on 1-Year Anniversary of Taliban Takeover | Playbill".
11. "'Suits LA' Casts Rachelle Goulding & Azita Ghanizada in Recurring Roles". November 25, 2024.
12. "How Azita Ghanizada has fought for recognition for Mena actors in Hollywood". The National. October 31, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
13. "Azita Ghanizada | Women for Women International". www.womenforwomen.org.

External links

• Azita Ghanizada at IMDb