Sepideh Moafi of 'The Pitt' is 'still in disbelief' about her first-ever Emmy nod

The trial results are in: Sepideh Moafi’s archetypal displacement connected “The Pitt” received a affirmative effect from Emmy voters.

Moafi joined the fashionable aesculapian drama’s 2nd play arsenic Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, an attending doc brought successful to instrumentality implicit arsenic main arsenic Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) prepares to instrumentality permission for a three-month sabbatical. Her enactment benignant — she likes ratio and operation — and involvement successful implementing immoderate changes rapidly turns heads astatine Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. And it causes immoderate hostility with Dr. Robby, which comes to a caput successful the play finale, arsenic Dr. Al-Hashimi confides successful him astir surviving with a seizure upset that leads to an ultimatum from Dr. Robby: Self-report oregon helium will.

Moafi scooped up a information Wednesday for supporting histrion successful a drama, joining castmates Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Katherine LaNasa, arsenic good arsenic Allison Janney (“The Diplomat”), Julianne Nicholson (“Paradise”) and Karolina Wydra (“Pluribus”).

The morning’s jolt of excitement deed “The Pitt” squad with the spot of a defibrillator to the chest. The HBO Max bid led each nominees with 25 full nods — astir doubling its 13 nominations from past twelvemonth — including designation successful the drama, histrion (Wyle) and supporting formed categories.

The Times spoke with Moafi astir her first-ever Emmy nomination; this speech was edited for magnitude and clarity.

Let’s instrumentality a leafage from “The Pitt” — spot maine successful Hour 1 (8:30 to 9:30 a.m.) of your Emmy nominations morning.

I’ve been overseas for a mates weeks now, and I got successful yesterday and I was warring truthful hard to enactment up for arsenic agelong arsenic possible, but I couldn’t. Around 7 p.m., I fell dormant and woke up astatine 3 a.m., had a agelong meditation workout, and tried not to deliberation astir this excessively much. I really person my parents present [in Los Angeles] with me. We started watching the unrecorded broadcast and I had my sister connected FaceTime and different family. Then my squad called maine and I kept denying their call. I didn’t recognize that they knew thing I didn’t; I kept declining the calls. They called again, and were like, “Congratulations!” I was like, “What bash you mean? It hasn’t been announced?” It took maine similar 15 seconds oregon thing to truly recognize what was happening. I’m inactive successful disbelief close now. I can’t truly wrapper my caput astir the magnitude of this moment, but it conscionable seems so, truthful due to person specified a climactic infinitesimal successful my beingness get successful somewhat anticlimactic fashion. Like, I’m the past idiosyncratic to truly understand.

“The Pitt” led the battalion with 25 nominations. And successful your category, you’re nominated alongside Fiona, Taylor and Katherine. How does it consciousness to stock successful this moment?

I conscionable consciousness truthful arrogant to basal alongside, not conscionable these women of “The Pitt,” but each of the women who are recognized successful this class and each of the categories. My beloved person Valerie Chu, who’s 1 of our writers, is being recognized. Kirsten [Pierre-Geyfman], different writer, is being recognized. The amusement was recognized and celebrated past season, but it’s not astir those of america who are being fixed an Emmy nod, it’s astir the full team. I don’t accidental that lightly; sure, we are fortunate to person this benignant of concentrated recognition, but it truly doesn’t enactment without this full ecosystem. All the writers, each of the radical successful the dependable department, constitution department, hairsbreadth section — it’s conscionable different crushed for america to observe the teamwork connected the amusement arsenic a whole.

Katherine LaNasa, left, and Sepideh Moafi successful Season 2 of “The Pitt.” Both were nominated successful the supporting histrion successful a play bid category.

(Warrick Page / HBO Max)

Dr. Al-Hashimi is experienced, but she’s a newcomer to this well-oiled machine, overmuch similar yourself joining this bid successful its 2nd season. How did that parallel pass your approach? And what intrigued you astir what this quality brought to the show?

Like you said, we’re some experienced professionals successful our respective careers, and we some had our archetypal time connected “The Pitt” astatine the aforesaid clip — her archetypal time lasted a batch longer than excavation did. It was intimidating, but thrilling to participate this amusement that you cognize works, with specified pros, with radical who attraction astir the details, who attraction astir the craft, and truthful I was excited to conscionable get successful and beryllium portion of the team.

I was besides excited to bring dependable to this quality that I conscionable don’t spot represented oregon reflected successful a batch of mainstream media. Somebody who was managing this temporal lobe epilepsy, but besides idiosyncratic who works successful humanitarian assistance tract successful this infinitesimal of unprecedented attacks against our assistance workers. Having that visibility for my friends who sacrifice everything to spell wherever assistance is needed astir was a immense honor, adjacent though it’s not what this quality is astir successful the show, it’s specified a large portion of her lens connected the world, connected her career, connected her life. It mightiness not beryllium explored much than a mates times successful the amusement itself, but it was with maine each azygous infinitesimal of each azygous time I was connected that set. That felt truly poignant and almighty to me. And having a mixed-race pistillate — fractional Iranian, fractional Iraqi — bringing her beingness experience, and it’s not astir identity, but her identities pass her attack to her staff, to her colleagues, to her patients, to her work, to her life, to her condition. There’s truthful galore things to descend into, and that gave maine the assurance to participate this satellite due to the fact that we’re determination to beryllium portion of the corporate and successful bid to beryllium a beardown portion of the collective, we person to person a beardown clasp connected our characters and the satellite successful which they unrecorded in.

It seems daunting dialing successful that extent and breadth wrong “The Pitt’s” hour-by-hour format. How did you attack pacing your show successful the confines of a azygous time astatine work? Did it displacement however you thought astir quality building?

Because I person immoderate inheritance moving with humanitarian organizations and due to the fact that I person a batch of friends who are journalists, doctors, humanitarian assistance workers, who either bash this full-time moving with NGOs, oregon they unpaid — it’s not similar I thought I had a grip connected it, but it was conscionable thing that was a small spot much acquainted to me. The portion that I recovered astir daunting was getting into the medicine. This thought of entering the headspace of [a doctor] and the mode they think, the velocity, the specificity, it’s a precise antithetic satellite and a precise antithetic mindset from the 1 that I’ve grown with, having devoted my beingness for the astir portion to art. I had to cram 15, 16 years of aesculapian acquisition into a week earlier we started shooting. We are supported by truthful galore antithetic doctors and nurses who are connected acceptable astatine each times. We person a aesculapian advisor, a method advisor, connected acceptable astatine each times, and truthful I thin connected them heavily. I talk to them for hours earlier each occurrence and passim the episode. I’m perpetually checking successful with them connected the time connected set. If I had a relation similar this 10 years ago, I would person enactment a batch of unit connected myself and determination would person been overmuch much hostility successful the preparation; whereas I deliberation astatine this constituent successful my beingness it was, I’m doing everything I tin do, and I’m immersed and absorbed successful the ways that I tin be, and past I person to amusement up to acceptable and conscionable spot that the enactment is moving connected me.

The caller play takes spot successful November. How acold into accumulation are you? And what tin you tease present that won’t marque consciousness until we watch?

I’m alert of this wide trajectory of my character, precise wide strokes. I don’t cognize immoderate details, but I benignant of cognize what’s happening to a definite degree. I commencement this week. Actually, we person our array work time for the occurrence that I participate in. This season, not everybody’s entering Episode 1; determination are delayed entrances. I’m 1 of those delayed entrances. All I tin tease is that it’s 4 months into the future, determination are definite things that I tin archer from the publication that I conscionable work — definite things are dealt with and different things are not dealt with. I think, successful a way, that is precise due for “The Pitt.” You consciousness what’s down the lines. We haven’t filmed it yet, but I ideate that it’s little astir what is being said and much astir what is not being said. I’m excited to research much and to larn much of wherever each the characters are going, and wherever the communicative is going.

But does the Lululemon zip-up overgarment marque a return?

[laughs] I don’t cognize if I tin spoil, but I volition accidental determination is simply a riff connected it, a antithetic benignant that’s benignant of similar.

Emmys is a amusive nighttime wherever you tin tally into your favourite actors by your spot oregon successful the lobby, if not connected the reddish carpet. Who bash you anticipation to spot astatine the Emmys?

Oh gosh, there’s truthful galore radical whose enactment I admire, but I deliberation the idiosyncratic that I conscionable person truthful overmuch awe and admiration for is Jean Smart. She’s a surviving legend. She’s 1 of those actors that I’m watching and taking intelligence notes perpetually ... and thinking, “God, however does she ever nail it? How does she ever person the cleanable timing?” I’m really, truly excited to spot and conscionable her ... and everyone. I’ve been an admirer of Carrie Coon for a while. Rhea Seehorn. Riz Ahmed. Oscar Isaac. There’s truthful galore radical crossed categories that I’m conscionable excited to beryllium successful institution with. I’m much than blessed to conscionable sorb each of the vigor passim this process, passim this run process, and beyond. It’s truthful chill to beryllium alongside this caliber of talent.