Dress: Frolov @frolovheart
Headband: Rinaldy Yunardi
@rinaldyyunardiofficial

Talent: Sarah Shahi
Photography, Creative Direction, and Production by: Mike Ruiz
Editor-in-Chief: Dimitri Vorontsov
Stylist: Stylist- Molly Dickson @mollyddickson
Hair: Rod Ortega
Makeup: Andre at A-Frame agency @andremakeup
Photography Assitant: Ozzie Gutierrez @ozzie__g__
Location: Los Angeles, California

Hood: Dolce & Gabbana @dolcegabbana

Dimitri: Well, first of all, congratulations on the film, and tell us about the photoshoot with Mike Ruiz. Tell us how was your experience with him.

Sarah: Oh, Mike was wonderful. My goodness. The photoshoot was so much fun. I really enjoy doing stuff like that, because I feel like it’s another character that I get to play. In terms of the outfits that we had, and the hairstyles that we had that day, it was very architectural in its lines, and it felt like something that was just– It just felt very different and very artistic as opposed to something that felt more general. It was fun. He was wonderful. He was very quick too, which was great, and he’s really good at his lighting, which is key.

Dimitri: Mike is really precise and quick to the point at the photoshoots.

Sarah: I know. I’m a Capricorn, as is he, actually, and so we really got along on the fact that he and I are both very time-efficient people. We like to get in there, and be the most efficient. It’s like, “Okay, what is the easiest and quickest way to get this done?”

Shoes: Givenchy @givenchy
Dress: Givenchy @givenchy
Gloves: Stylist Own

Dimitri: You have a massive film coming up, Black Adam. Congratulations on this and–

Sarah: It’s just a little movie, just a little–

Dimitri: Just a tiny bit with a tiny Rock?

Sarah: Yes, exactly. Yes, just some guy you may not have heard of before.

Dimitri: No, I think he’s still in WWE? (Mr Johnson if you ever read this, I’m from Aotearoa, please don’t WWE me but I still do 660lbs leg presses and used to play Rugby and Pro-Snowboard.)

Sarah: Definitely.

Dimitri: Now, seriously, tell us about working with Dwayne. He has the biggest heart as I heard. Tell us about your experience, please.

Sarah: Well, what you know is correct. It’s always interesting when you’re meeting somebody who has that much power and fame and celebrity, and you never really know what to make of them. Somebody like him, I was surprised. He’s one of the most magnanimous people I’ve ever met. His heart is so open, he is very giving of himself to people. When he talks to you, he looks you right in the eye. He gives you his time, he gives you his experiences. He’s open. He will talk about his childhood. It was really great. I got to know some really– It wasn’t just onset, like just normal talk.

We got into life issues and parental issues. It was just our childhood. I really appreciated his openness and willingness to share of himself. Then it doesn’t hurt when he gives you a bottle of Teremana in your trailer. Then he’s got ZOA stations throughout the sets. That’s not bad either. He blew my mind in terms of what– I didn’t expect him to be like that at all. The beauty of him is that he’s very grounded in the sense that he came from very humble beginnings, and he still carries that with him, and I like that a lot.

Dress: Monot @Monotofficial
Shoes: Jimmy Choo @jimmychoo
Shaul: On Aura Tout Vu @onauratoutvu
Cuffs: Juan Carlos Obando @jc_obando
Earrings: 8 Other Reasons @8otherreasons

Dimitri: That’s amazing. I only had a few encounters with him at various Awards, but never actually interviewed him. He is a super genuine guy.

Sarah: Yes. I’ve always felt like fame and money, they do interesting things to people. I really do feel like they bring out people’s true colors.

Dimitri: Exactly.

Sarah: It’s really beautiful to see somebody like him.

Dimitri: Exactly. Have you ever thought to yourself that one day you’re going to be a superhero in a DC World? Has it ever occurred to you that you will be part of the DC Universe, I guess?

Sarah: No. Not at all. I myself, the comic books that I read when I was a little girl, were things like Betty and Veronica, and Jughead, and those were the comic books that I really got on with. I never in my imagination– First of all, never in my imagination did I think I could actually make a living doing what I’m doing. For me, just that in itself, I’m constantly thinking about how tough this profession is and how you really have to– It takes a lot more than dedication and perseverance to be where you are. I still feel like I’m at the very beginning of my career with every job still. It’s just a marvel to me that anyone even hires me. Let alone that I get to be a part of this universe in itself. It blows my mind. I still haven’t seen the movie myself, so I still can’t quite believe it. I’m like, “Am I really in there?” Everyone keeps telling me I’m a big part of this movie.

I have three kids and it’s like for me, there’s nothing more important than being a mother. What’s really great about this job is I get to share this one with my kids. It’s like some of the other stuff I’ve done, the majority of the stuff I’ve done, they’re not for them to see. This is something that they’re going to be proud of to watch and say, “Hey, that’s my mom.” That means everything to me. I finally have bragging rights with my kids. My kids finally think I’m cool. Apparently, this was a project that they’ve spent over 10 years developing.

Dimitri: Oh, wow. That’s impressive.

Sarah: This is something that they had their eye on for a long time. He was like born to play this role. It’s quite remarkable to see. It’s like out of everything that he’s done, and he’s always great and he’s always charismatic and carries his own no matter who he’s working against. This one, there’s just another element of him that comes alive as this.

Dress: Frolov @frolovheart
Headband: Rinaldy Yunardi
@rinaldyyunardiofficial

Dimitri: Have you seen the final cut before the Premier?

Sarah: No, I haven’t. I was out of town working when they did a cast screening. I was in London and so I missed out on that one, but hopefully, they’re going to show it to me next week.

Dimitri: Looks like your character is quite a fighter. You’re playing a college professor that helped to resurrect the Black Adam? Can you tell us more about your character?

Sarah: Yes. My character, she’s like a mix between Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones. The story takes place in this fictitious country of Kahndaq, which is a Middle Eastern country. That’s a whole other area that I’m very happy that finally Middle Eastern actors and that kind of representation is finally happening in a large screen or in a large storyline. I’m Persian myself, so that’s always been something that I felt was missing.

It takes place in this country called Kahndaq, and there’s a leader of oppressors called Intergang, and they’ve come to infiltrate our country and to take over and to enslave us all. I am the leader of the resistance against Intergang. My character, again, she really is like the archeologist, she’s the expert in all of the ancient relics of the past and she’s a badass, she’s quite tough. She’s had to make it in this world. Her connection with Black Adam, it’s one of those things where [chuckles] it’s very limited what I can reveal about this movie.

Dress: Mugler @mugleroffical
Shoes: Jimmy Choo @jimmychoo
Hair Accessory: Jennifer Fisher @jenniferfisherjewelry

Dimitri: Absolutely.

Sarah: What I can say is I kind of become like the Black Adam’s Whisperer, like the Black Adam tamer in a way. I can speak to him in a way that other people don’t have the ability to do it.

Dimitri: That sounds really exciting actually. Where’d you guys shoot the film?

Sarah: Georgia. We shot it in Georgia because Georgia looked so much like the Middle East. It was remarkable what they did. We mostly shot it at sound stages in Peachtree City, Georgia. We were on location for a few things, but most of it was in Georgia.

Dimitri: Interesting. I thought it would have been shot on some type of location in Europe or somewhere, for budget reasons, etc.

Sarah: That’s the magic of everybody behind the scenes and especially our director Jaume. I can’t speak high– you would think I was his mother or I was paid to speak of him as lovingly as I do. This is my second project with Jaume and I just have nothing but adoration for this man. He’s a genius. He’s just on another level when it comes to movies like this and the amount of information his brain can carry in terms of how he needs to shoot this, and what kind of cameras he needs. It’s like we shot everything in one way for one certain kind of camera and all those different angles, and then we would do it again with different visual effects cameras and the different kinds of thing.

The entire movie was actually shot in animation before we started filming. Then after the scene, certain scenes, before we moved on, we had the editor on set and they would basically take that scene, put it into the animation, see is it fitting, is it not fitting? Are we missing a piece? Do we need to get a close-up of this, whatever gun, whatever it is. Anyway, it was just quite, it was just amazing to be the outsider and to see all the work that goes into movies like this. It’s just a lot.

Dress: Comme de Garcons Junya Wanabe @commedesgarcons
Shoes: Jimmy Choo @jimmychoo

Dimitri: Working with such an amazing crew and cast, is there any fun stories from the set?

Sarah: Yes, there’s so many fun. The cast really became like a second family. I’ve done lots of different projects and I’ve had various levels of relationships with the cast. I will say in this one, I don’t know if it was because it was such– it was a hard shoot, because it is so technical and we moved very slowly. We would maybe shoot a page a day. We all felt like we were in the trenches together in that sense. All of us really recognized we were a part of something that was so cool, that even Pierce, for example. Pierce Brosnan comes in and carries himself as if he’s one of us.
There were no egos. There were no divas. I had worked with Aldis before on City on a Hill. Mo Amer, he and I became super close friends and my kids think of him like an uncle now. Noah was lovely. Quintessa and I became like sisters. It was just so great.

Dimitri: What training did you have to do beforehand?

Sarah: My character in this movie is not a superhero. The superheroes, they had to do– They were the ones that were required. They had to start maybe two months before to start getting their movements down and how they can fly and that kind of stuff. My character was pretty, she was human. I just really worked on– Of course, I worked out and whatever, but the way I was training for this movie, it was just very– I was training like an athlete.

I had this amazing trainer in Georgia. Brian Chapman. I believe he was an ex-football player. He would basically have me do muscle work along with high agility work as well, like sprints and lifting super heavy things. I sound like I know, I’m so technical with these workout terms here. Basically, we were just training like I was an athlete. He diversified my training to make it look like I had muscle, I was strong, I was able to fight like that kind of stuff. When it came to the scenes in which I did have to fight or I did have to do some wire work, I just had to learn it on the fly.

Dress: Alex Perry @alexperryofficial
Black Chest piece: YSL @ysl
Shoes: Jimmy Choo @jimmychoo
Earrings: Rinaldy Yunardi @rinaldyyunardiofficial

Dimitri: You have another project as well, Sex/Life which was renewed for this season two on Netflix. It’s premiering. Have you guys finished the production?

Sarah: Yes, we finished shooting, but we haven’t finished in terms of all the post-production aspects of it are not done yet. We did finish filming.
The whole story is about a woman who on paper seems like she has it all. She’s married, she has a beautiful husband, she has two beautiful kids. She pretty much has everything she wants and more, but at the same time, she’s just not fulfilled.

The question is after marriage and children, women give up parts of themselves but those parts are still there. They’re just suppressed. There’s a boyfriend from her past played by an actor named Adam Demos, who is the one that got away for her and he comes back in her life. For her, it’s the decision of does she stay with her husband or does she reawaken all these parts of herself that she’s been missing for so long, that she felt when she had when she was with this guy? That was the first season.

The second season basically picks up right where the first season left off. It’s just more of that exploration of relationships and women and what happens to us, how we feel a little bit like our fire is put out sometimes in a relationship. It’s also about second chances. When I did this show, it was interesting, because I was going through a lot of personal issues myself, and it helped me have a voice. It helped me realize that even though I am a mother, even though I am a bunch of things, I’m still a person that has needs. I will say that Billy, she just got into my skin. She got into my skin and she helped me find my voice. She got into the skin of a lot of people.

I became the poster child for unhappy married women, and now I’m writing a book about that time, and everything I’ve learned and my experiences and stuff that got inspired by that. It’s brought me a lot of beautiful, beautiful things.

Shoes: Jimmy Choo @jimmychoo
Dress: Mugler @mugleroffical
Earings: 8 Other Reasons @8otherreasons
Cuff: Jennifer Fisher @jenniferfisherjewelry

Dimitri: The book that you’re working on is actually based on your personal experience to some extent.

Sarah: Basically, yes. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I went through a lot of changes right when I got this job and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve grown a lot. I have fucked up a lot and I have recovered a lot, and again, because I was playing this kind of a symbolic character for so many women, I get approached a lot for advice in situations. I’ve given women hope, and that’s just such a beautiful thing, that I’ve found myself in a position where I have so much to say. Now I’m writing a book about it all.

Dimitri: That’s amazing. You have also another project coming up on Amazon, Red, White & Royal Blue?

Sarah: I am in production. It’s an incredible novel, and it’s basically a gay romance story about the Queen of England’s son and the President of the United States’ son. It’s just a classic romantic comedy of relationships and people. It was directed by a director named Matthew Lopez, and he’s a very well-acclaimed playwright. This is his first– He adapted the novel, and this is his first time directing, and I have to say, he’s quite a genius. I would do craft services on anything that he ever worked on. He’s incredible. Gave me some direction that in the 20 years I’ve been acting I’ve never heard before. I felt very lucky to be surrounded by such a capacity of talent.

Dimitri: If you could give your younger self advice, what kind of advice would you give yourself?

Sarah: I don’t know if I would give myself any advice, to be honest with you. Maybe it would be just to trust yourself. Maybe that’s it. It’s one of those things where everything that I went through in my life, led me to where I am now. Every moment that I was nervous, every moment that I felt like I wasn’t good enough, it pushed me to work harder. It pushed me to study more, it pushed me to try more, it pushed me in different directions, which I feel like are the combination of who I am today.

If anything, I guess, maybe just to trust yourself and that you really have to follow your gut. No matter what people say, no matter what your parents think, no matter what your bosses may think, no matter what your sister may think, you have this inner guiding voice, and to really, really trust that more.