What is “good taste” anyway? Allow your favorite actor, musician, celebrity, or comedian to let you in on what they’re watching, reading, and consuming.
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Richard Knapp, Getty Images, Retailer
It was fairly easy for Sepideh Moafi to slip into her character’s scrubs on The Pitt. After all, her first day at work was also Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi’s orientation to Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. She is a welcome addition to the orchestral harmony that makes the hour-by-hour format of our favorite Emmy-winning medical show so enjoyable to watch, even amid broken bones and poop explosions. “I got to enter and introduce a different melody into this cacophony of tunes,” she tells The Cut. “I was most intimidated by the fact that I was the only cast member entering the show as a senior doctor. It’s not like I can mess up or look like I’m not competent.”
Moafi was first an opera singer before trying out theater, eventually appearing on David Simon and George Pelecanos’s sex-work drama The Deuce and The L Word: Generation Q. Similarly, The Pitt’s juicy story lines that intersect with social and political identity were a major draw for Sepideh. “A hospital, by its very nature, is a convergence of all different points of society,” she says.
Coming from Veteran Affairs, Al-Hashimi is a more buttoned-up foil to Dr. Robby, encouraging residents to use (often inaccurate) AI to speed up the charting process. In brief moments, we can see that there’s something bubbling beneath the surface with Al-Hashimi. We don’t yet know what it is, but it’s heavy enough that Sepideh refused to bring the character with her when she left set for the day after filming. “Later in the season, there are more intense scenes, and it was the first time where I did a green light/red light thing, where I was on and off,” she explains. “Taking care of myself — physically, mentally, and spiritually — was really important.”
After your role on The Deuce, it seems like you’ve been interested in political projects. Do you see that as a through-line in your career?
There’s a common thread here. The Deuce is a blatant exploration of the commodification of sex and pornography and this intersection of women navigating systems that are not built for them, women who are subjugated, who are prevented from breaking out of the system. It’s very different on The Pitt, but it’s a similar thing where my character is having to navigate a system that is not built for her. And there are so many early judgments despite her level of competency and expertise; she’s always second-guessed and questioned and undercut. I would be curious to see if she were a man how people would respond.
We must talk about Dr. Al-Hashimi’s Lululemon jacket — it’s her version of Dr. Robby’s hoodie! How did it resonate with your idea of the character?
Lyn Paolo, our costume designer, was the one who introduced it, and it makes sense. All of our scrubs are by FIGS, but my collar is different, more structured. I felt like it matched. I see her as somebody who wakes up at 4 a.m., has her juice and does Pilates, reads the news, then goes to work. So the jacket fits in with this idea of the “on the go” worker who is always stylish and keeping herself put-together and looking presentable. If she wanted to, she could just show up and have a drink in that look, you know? It has a fluid use.
If you had a choice, would you wear it again for another season?
I think I’d like to stay within a similar vein, but I’d be down to get rid of the Lululemon jacket. But I’m obsessed with her collar line. I love that little detail and her jewelry. In the character breakdown, it said she’s very put-together and there’s not a hair out of place. I thought they’d want my hair straight, but they wanted it curly … I’m like, good luck having no hair out of place with this. We accomplished that look with all the other details: the small gold hoops, the chain-link necklace, the Oura ring, the APL shoes. Everything is slightly elevated with her, so I’d like to keep that for next season.
Getting into our Taste Test: Where do you get your best culture recommendations from?
It’s not a single source! I love The New Yorker, but not to throw shade, it’s often told from a very sort of Anglo, white lens on culture and art. I have my Black and brown community, so it depends on what kind of culture I’m seeking. As soon as I get to New York, I reach out to my buddies who are Broadway actors and whose opinions I really value and cherish. It’s a hodgepodge of different friends and magazines, and I try to collect as much information. I have, like, 40 different notebooks; I have raging ADHD. So I keep my culture notebook nearby for any time I see or hear something. I write it down and hopefully revisit it.
Which celebrities, dead or alive, would you invite to a dinner party?
I’d invite James Baldwin. Forugh Farrokhzad, a radical mid-century feminist Iranian poet. This is a woman who, in the 1950s, was writing about sex in Iran. She was brilliant and she became a filmmaker as well. She died at age 32, gone too soon. I was and technically still am an opera singer, and Maria Callas was my first inspiration. She’s intense, but I feel like I could take it. This one is silly, but Harpo Marx. I just want to watch him move and feel his heart and wit. And, finally, I never got to meet my grandfathers. I would love to spend time with them. It would be all these different languages and backgrounds; Maria waxing lyrical about Puccini while Baldwin smokes a cigarette. I actually want to dream about this tonight.
What’s the last meal you cooked for dinner?
The last thing was a simple chicken-with-vegetables improv situation. I was coming from L.A., so it was the vegetables that were still in the fridge. I just tried to mix everything we had and create a nice little stir-fry. That’s kind of where I thrive, the improv in the kitchen. Give me three ingredients like I’m on Chopped, and I’ll go to town. It makes you think outside the box for the traditional dishes. I learned from my mom: You cook spaghetti together with the sauce, and then you add cinnamon and salt for a nice flair. I worked in restaurants for a very long time, so I think about the flavors that I love and try to find them or mimic them in whatever I make.
What is your pre-filming ritual on The Pitt?
The ritual starts early. I usually wake up and do some kind of movement, whether it’s rebounding, a vibration plate, or a walking pad to move my body, to shake me and my energy up. And then a bit of stretching and myofascial release. As I’m sure you noticed, there’s something very still and not rigid, but contained, about my character.
Once I go to the studio, I sit in my room and I write. Sometimes I just listen to music or a podcast. I have the season laid out from episode one to the end, with all my traumas and patients, all of the patients that are already gone, and where I am physically, mentally, emotionally. You can ask anyone from The Pitt: By month three, you’re starting to feel the weight of the day naturally. So you don’t need to add to that. It’s not like I need to go in a corner and think about much. You’re already carrying a lot.
What’s your comfort rewatch?
The Sopranos. I share a birthday with James Gandolfini! The work he did with Edie Falco shook something in me. Anytime I feel untethered in my work, I always go back to The Sopranos. It’s not even about watching the show itself, it’s about getting in touch with that girl, 15 years ago or whatever, when I first started this, and finding her hand and holding onto that and being like, Yeah, we’re still inspired and lit up in the same way. Let’s go.
What’s your favorite game to play?
I love Bananagrams. I love Monopoly Deal, a horrible capitalist game, but it’s so fun. And I don’t know if it’s an American game or if it’s a Persian thing, but it’s called Crazy Rummy. Anytime I’m with my family, that’s the game. My parents will play for days on end. I remember I was visiting them, and I’m a tango dancer, so I went out to go dance. I came home at around 4:30 in the morning and they were still playing.
Worst thing to do at a dinner party?
This is really gross. I’m sorry, please don’t judge me. I was just thinking about either projectile vomiting or sharting. Then it’s like, you’ve contaminated all the food, nobody wants to eat. It’s just a disaster.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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