State Department Thinks Ex-Mustang, Cowboys Cheerleader Sarah Shahi Is Worth a Profile

I was watching Ocean's Thirteen on USA last night -- couldn't sleep, thought that would do it, didn't, don't judge -- and was inundated with promos for a new series called Fairly Legal, about a mediator at an IKEA store who likes to strip down to her underwear, though I...

By Robert Wilonsky

January 6, 2011

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I was watching Ocean's Thirteen on USA last night -- couldn't sleep, thought that would do it, didn't, don't judge -- and was inundated with promos for a new series called Fairly Legal, about a mediator at an IKEA store who likes to strip down to her underwear, though I could have that wrong. I thought the lead looked familiar (from The Sopranos, right?) but couldn't place the name, at least not till I came across this profile of the actress on America.gov, a website operated by the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs, which, cough, "engages international audiences on issues of foreign policy, society and values to help create an environment receptive to U.S. national interests." Just like US Weekly!

Anyway. It's Sarah Shahi, the Euless native who became a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader during her freshman year at SMU for reasons we explained during the summer of '08, when Esquire named "Walking Blue Balls" a "Woman We Love" back when she starred on NBC's short-lived Life. So why the federally funded profile? Because she was born Aahoo Jahansouz Shahi, grew up speaking Persian and is "a great-great-granddaughter of a 19th-century Iranian ruler, Fath Ali Shah Qajar." You're now free to have international relations with Google Image search.

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