Zhaleh
- Actress
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Zhaleh (ZSHAH-LAY) is a multi-ethnic actress on a roll since her breakthrough performances in 2022. Nicknamed by fans as the "chameleon", Zhaleh's range of characters is immense. She gained initial notoriety as Jazmine, the wild and volatile girlfriend of Sons of Anarchy VP Boston Terry on FX Network's Mayans M.C. She made her CW Network debut as Veronica, a traumatized woman living in ancient times, who goes on a journey of despair to hope in series creator Dallas Jenkins' The Chosen. Among her many recent episodic credits, she was attorney Elizabeth Nooryani, opposite Bob Odenkirk in the final season of AMC's Better Call Saul, and Katherine, the spicy psychiatry assistant opposite Oliver Platt on NBC's Chicago Med. In 2024, she will reprise her role on 'The Chosen' as well as appear on an upcoming Marvel Studios project. Zhaleh credits her role as a junior Walgreens executive opposite Alan Ruck in Michael Showalter's award-winning Hulu mini-series The Dropout as one of her first major breaks, followed by Nathan Fielder's groundbreaking The Rehearsal on HBO.
Zhaleh has been a performer since the age of five, when she took on the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham in a local Gaslight Theater production of Robin Hood. She later participated in regional and national Shakespeare competitions, and she credits her festival win as the anguished Constance in Shakespeare's King John as an early highlight. After graduating high school, Zhaleh attended university, where she triple majored/minored in psychology, law and performance. Moving to Los Angeles, she started to take acting classes, while studying law at Loyola Law School. She received her Juris Doctor, passed the California Bar Exam on her round attempt, and is a licensed and practicing attorney in California.
Her range extends both in character and ethnicity; she's played unfiltered drug addicts to straight-laced professionals, and her multi-ethnic mixed background creates an ethnic ambiguity that has her called in for MENA, Spanish, Native, Italian, White, etc. Her skill set is also ranged - her athletic background allows her to play physically demanding roles, and as a practicing lawyer, she is able to utilize her legal skills on-screen and off as a one-woman production and talent powerhouse.
Zhaleh has been a performer since the age of five, when she took on the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham in a local Gaslight Theater production of Robin Hood. She later participated in regional and national Shakespeare competitions, and she credits her festival win as the anguished Constance in Shakespeare's King John as an early highlight. After graduating high school, Zhaleh attended university, where she triple majored/minored in psychology, law and performance. Moving to Los Angeles, she started to take acting classes, while studying law at Loyola Law School. She received her Juris Doctor, passed the California Bar Exam on her round attempt, and is a licensed and practicing attorney in California.
Her range extends both in character and ethnicity; she's played unfiltered drug addicts to straight-laced professionals, and her multi-ethnic mixed background creates an ethnic ambiguity that has her called in for MENA, Spanish, Native, Italian, White, etc. Her skill set is also ranged - her athletic background allows her to play physically demanding roles, and as a practicing lawyer, she is able to utilize her legal skills on-screen and off as a one-woman production and talent powerhouse.