From Refugee to ‘Suits: LA’ Star: Azita Ghanizada on Representation, Resilience and Revolutionizing the Industry
…I’m a big fan of any wellness routine. I really believe in slowing down when you need to. I believe in self-care in that way. I also believe in self-parenting, which to me means being who you say you are — following through on your word. Showing up in the way you present yourself to the world is something I value a lot. I love to run, exercise, walk my dog, drink tons of water, meditate, and use my sauna blanket. And I like to balance all that out with a couple of good champagnes and a nice piece of chocolate cake here and there. I think life is about really living. You’re never going to look back and regret the fun you had. There’s a time to be serious and work hard, and then there’s a time to play, to be silly, and to just enjoy life — because it all moves really fast…
I had the pleasure of talking with Azita Ghanizada. Azita Ghanizada’s journey from refugee to Hollywood actor and advocate is marked by resilience, pioneering achievements, and a persistent effort to reshape representation in the entertainment industry. Born in Afghanistan and raised in the United States, Ghanizada arrived in Virginia as a baby after her family was granted political asylum. Her father, a translator for the U.S. Embassy and the State Department during the volatile era of Soviet invasion and regional instability, brought the family to safety during a time of intense conflict. They were among the first Afghan families to settle near Washington, D.C., beginning a life straddled between American suburban culture and deep Afghan roots.
Her early experiences navigating dual identities — reciting the Gettysburg Address at school while welcoming displaced relatives at airports — shaped her sense of self and her creative vision. Television served as both a teacher and refuge, fostering an early fascination with storytelling and representation. Despite the lack of characters who looked or sounded like her on screen, Ghanizada was drawn to the medium’s potential for connection and cultural exchange.
Without industry contacts or formal pathways, she moved to Los Angeles alone, armed with little more than ambition and a vintage suitcase. Initially working temp jobs and taking acting classes, she eventually began booking roles in television. Her big break came as one of the first Afghan American women to star in a U.S. television series with Syfy’s Alphas. Her performances since then have included a wide range of television and film work, sharing the screen with Oscar-winning and -nominated actors including Rachel Weisz, Mahershala Ali, David Strathairn, Sam Shepard, and Casey Affleck.
In 2016, Ghanizada earned critical acclaim for her role in Complete Unknown, leading The Hollywood Reporter to name her one of the “Seven Sundance Breakout Actresses You Must Know.” Her film credits include Our Friend (Amazon), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019, and We Broke Up (Hulu). Her television work spans both comedy and drama, with appearances on United States of Al, How I Met Your Mother, The Mentalist, Ballers, Entourage, Elementary, and Good Trouble.
In 2022, Ghanizada made her Broadway debut in The Kite Runner, starring as the lead female character in a production that brought her full circle to her Afghan heritage while performing in one of American theater’s most storied venues.
Away from the screen, Ghanizada has become a prominent advocate for representation in Hollywood. In 2017, she founded the MENA Arts Advocacy Coalition (MAAC), which successfully lobbied for the inclusion of a Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) category in SAG-AFTRA theatrical contracts. This milestone marked a formal recognition of a group long rendered invisible in casting and hiring practices. Her TEDx Talk and continued public speaking engagements have positioned her as a voice for equity in the industry, particularly for women and artists from underrepresented communities.
Ghanizada is also active in international advocacy. She serves as an Ambassador for Women for Women International, supporting women survivors of war through education, resources, and community-building programs. Her efforts reflect an ongoing commitment to issues of famine, gender-based violence, and displacement.
In 2025, Ghanizada stepped into a new phase of her career with a starring role on NBC’s Suits: LA, a spinoff of the popular legal drama Suits. Portraying Rosalyn Noori, a character whose narrative intersects with old Hollywood history and contemporary legal drama, Ghanizada has embraced the opportunity to explore new terrain in a franchise known for its witty dialogue and stylized storytelling.
In interviews, Ghanizada often reflects on the personal weight of her professional path. As a woman of Afghan descent navigating an industry historically unreceptive to stories like hers, she has faced pressures to conform, including suggestions to change her name. She credits a mentor for encouraging her to maintain her identity, telling her, “If they can learn to say Arnold Schwarzenegger, they’ll learn to say your name.”
Her career has not been without challenges, including early audition mishaps and cultural pushback against her chosen profession. Yet each moment — from comedic turns on Entourage to emotionally charged scenes with actors like Sam Shepard — has deepened her resolve to remain authentic and expand the space for others.
While her on-screen characters often navigate high-stakes drama, Ghanizada’s off-screen routines emphasize balance. She champions wellness practices such as meditation, running, and self-parenting — an ethos of following through on one’s commitments. She also speaks candidly about her belief in joy, fun, and the importance of celebration, whether through champagne, chocolate cake, or time with her dog.
In her vision for the future, Ghanizada blends idealism with pragmatism. If given broader influence, she says she would direct wealth toward education, food security, and local infrastructure — believing deeply in the power of reinvestment and community-building. Her aspirations include founding a state-of-the-art animal shelter and ensuring that children everywhere have access to basic needs.
Azita Ghanizada’s body of work — both artistic and activist — traces a trajectory of transformation: from refugee to performer, from outsider to change-maker. Through her performances, advocacy, and public engagement, she continues to shape the narratives that define Hollywood, while expanding its horizons for the next generation of storytellers.
Yitzi: Azita, it’s a delight and an honor to meet you. Before we dive in deep, our readers would love to learn about your personal origin story. Can you share with us the story of your childhood and how you grew up?
Azita: Thank you so much. Nice to meet you too, Yitzi. Wow, my personal origin story is pretty complicated. A lot of times people think it’s harder to capture on screen than some of the stories I get to tell. We were political refugees from Afghanistan, and we came to Washington, D.C. My dad worked for the U.S. Embassy and the State Department, helping translate for U.S. soldiers. The Shah was being overthrown in Iran, and the Soviets were coming into Afghanistan. Our lives were very much at risk, and we lost some family members during that time. We were one of the first families to come over to Virginia, just outside D.C.
At the time, I was just a baby. I’ve always felt caught between two worlds. I had a very American upbringing in Virginia. I learned the Gettysburg Address. I’d go to Abe Lincoln’s house on field trips, and we’d visit the Smithsonian. But at the same time, I was growing up in a very Afghan household. We’d go to the airport to pick up family members coming out of refugee camps in the ’80s. They’d arrive with plastic bags holding everything they owned, weeping as they walked off the plane. It was all really overwhelming and scary. I didn’t know if we were truly safe in America. Would we ever go back to Afghanistan? Would we face the same struggles as those family members who had been through so much just to survive?
So that was the start of my childhood. Honestly, the place I felt safest — something I still return to when thinking back — was television. I loved TV. I learned so much about culture from it, like so many of us do. I learned about American families through shows like The Cosby Show. That family kind of raised me in a way. They made me feel less alone. And yeah, that’s really the beginning of my story, before I ever made it to LA.
Yitzi: Awesome. So let’s hear about the next chapter.
Azita: You know, I loved television so much. And there really weren’t any Yitzis or Azitas on screen. We felt so other, right? Maybe you’d see someone on the news, maybe a BBC correspondent or something, because I was really into international news as a kid. But when you don’t see yourself reflected on screen, it makes you feel even more isolated. I definitely took on the personalities of the TV heroes and the characters I fell in love with on the big screen.
I knew I wanted to be part of that world somehow. I didn’t know exactly how, and I didn’t know anyone in the industry. But I bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. I had only been on a plane once before. My family wasn’t big into travel. They were like, “Stay put. Don’t let anyone take you. Please.” We weren’t adventurers. We were more about staying safe.
So, I packed my mom’s old suitcase from Kabul — a 1970s maroon piece of luggage with a broken wheel — and I moved to LA. I didn’t know a soul. I got a temp job at E! Networks and worked for a bunch of people there. I also started taking acting classes. At first, I thought I’d go into entertainment journalism or something like that, because that was the only kind of representation I’d seen for someone like me.
But the more I started telling stories through other people’s experiences, the safer I felt. Expressing pain, expressing joy — it was easier when I could do it through a character. I didn’t have to be completely vulnerable. I could feel free, big, bold — but still safe — because I was stepping into someone else’s shoes. And honestly, it gave me such a high.
And somehow, by the grace of God, I started getting work. That’s how it all began. But no one knew what to do with me. Everyone told me to change my name. Azita Ghanizada — too many syllables, right? But I had this mentor who told me, “If they can learn to say Arnold Schwarzenegger, they’ll learn to say your name.” And I’ve held onto that ever since. I stayed true to who I am.
Yitzi: You have some amazing stories from your incredible career. Can you share with our readers one or two stories that really stand out in your mind from your professional life?
Azita: Oh, I have so many wonderful stories. One real highlight for me, when I was very young, was getting to work with Sam Shepard. He was an incredible playwright, an amazing actor, married to Jessica Lange forever — a real cowboy. I was playing this young, gold-digging wife in a kind of Nashville music dynasty, and he was the patriarch. I was definitely intimidated working opposite him.
We had a scene where he was cracking peanuts — just doing his thing. Nobody could tell him what to do; he was going to do whatever he wanted. But the crew kept coming over to tell me what to do. And then the late, great Sam Shepard stopped everything and said, “Hey, she’s doing incredible. Why don’t you give us some space and let us find it?” That moment meant so much to me. I felt so protected by his creative authority, which I didn’t have yet.
Especially when you’re a minority within a minority, you’re in that one small role, and if you don’t hit the bullseye every single time, you might not get another chance. So for Sam Shepard to kind of wrap me in that creative safety and say, “We’re good, let’s play,” meant everything. I was obsessed with his plays, and to have someone like that take me under his wing — it was just such an honor. We had a wonderful time working together. That was about 15 years ago, and it still stands out.
And then, working on Entourage — that was just so much fun. That group of guys was wild, and they wrote me this crazy storyline. There’s this line where I say something like, “I slept with Seth Rogen,” in this big party scene, and everyone’s like, “You did what?!” I don’t even know why they wrote that — maybe they were just picking on him. I love Seth Rogen, by the way — I’m obsessed with him.
But after that episode aired, I’d be walking down the street — this was 15 years ago — and people would roll their windows down and shout, “I can’t believe you slept with Seth Rogen!” I’d turn bright red. It was wild. It was just one of those moments in time. That show was such a hit, and everyone was talking about it. Even just walking down Melrose, people would yell it out like it had actually happened. It was hilarious.
Those are a couple of the highlights, but I’ve had so many. Going to Sundance for the first time was also incredible — just being surrounded by all that creativity and all those amazing artists. It was phenomenal.
Yitzi: Wonderful. It’s been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a humorous mistake you made when you were first starting out?
Azita: Oh, I have such a funny story. I was auditioning to be a Disney princess — I was probably around 23 at the time. Acting was kind of forbidden for me culturally. It was considered unacceptable. I found a lot of joy in my acting classes back in high school and middle school, but I wasn’t allowed to be in stage performances. I could do things like school TV segments or MC events, but that was it.
So when I started acting professionally, I had no idea how to audition. No one teaches you that part. You do plays, you get to feel everything, express yourself emotionally — but the business side of acting wasn’t really taught. This was 20 years ago. Classes focused on how to live truthfully on stage, but not how to walk into a casting office and give a strong audition. I hadn’t gotten into those kinds of workshops yet.
Anyway, I went to meet one of the biggest casting directors in the business. It was an in-person audition. I was so nervous, I pulled all of my hair forward and covered my face with it because I was scared to look at her. I was literally trying to hide behind my hair. She stopped me and said, “Azita, I need you to pull your hair back.” I was like, “Oh, okay,” completely flustered. Then she said, “I just need you to speak from your chest.” I was so green.
But once she put me at ease, I actually did a really good job. That experience gave me the confidence to show up as my whole self, to use my full voice, and to make strong choices. You hear stories about casting directors yelling people out of the room for stuff like that — especially back then. But luckily, she was one of the good ones. She really took care of me.
So yeah, I definitely learned something that day: don’t try to hide behind your hair when you’re acting. It just doesn’t work.
Yitzi: Let’s talk about your great work. You’ve done so much impressive work. Can you share with our readers the exciting things you’re working on now and what you hope to be working on in the near future?
Azita: Right now, we’re shooting the finale of Suits: LA, which is the buzzed-about spin-off of the original Suits. It’s a very different show — new cast, new city, and a very different premise. We’ve almost finished the first season — 13 episodes — and the finale has been especially exciting for me to shoot.
In it, we finally get to explore my character’s history and where she came from. What’s really fun is that there’s a bit of old Hollywood lore woven into her backstory, which adds an extra layer of entertainment. The show really digs into what it’s like to be in this city — dealing with all the personalities, egos, and challenges you face whether you’re an assistant, a secretary, a manager, or a lawyer.
It’s been an incredible journey discovering Roslyn — my character — and watching her find her way in this industry. She’s working alongside a larger-than-life character like Ted Black, and that dynamic has been a blast to play with. There are so many archetypes to draw from, and I keep going back to Alfred Pennyworth and Pepper Potts for inspiration.
Yitzi: As you know, the Suits franchise — the Suits universe — is extremely popular. What do you think it was about the series that captured people’s hearts and minds?
Azita: I think it was really the sharp writing. The original show hit at the right time and place. They started filming it 13 years ago, but then it had this massive resurgence in 2023. It’s the kind of show that’s easy and comforting to watch. It’s fun, it makes you laugh, and you fall in love with the characters.
The writing has always been strong, and we’re lucky that Aaron Korsh, the creator of the original Suits and now Suits: LA, is still leading the way. Along with him, writers like John Cowan, Genevieve Sparling, and Rick Muirragui are all back, bringing these fresh, exciting stories to life in a modern-day setting — with a new city, new characters, and a slightly different tone.
This season starts off with a bang — literally. There’s a huge building explosion in a flashback from Ted’s past, and that really sets the tone for the kind of high-stakes drama we’re diving into. But it’s still got that classic Suits mix of witty banter, fun moments, and a touch of romance. The world has opened up in this version, and I think it allows for even more play and depth, especially as we unpack Ted’s complicated history.
Yitzi: How would you compare and contrast your personal character, Azita, with Roslyn, the character you play? How are you similar, and how are you different?
Azita: I think Roslyn and I are similar in a lot of ways. We both have a strong moral compass, and we both lead with integrity. We’re both patient, and we don’t really put up with too much bad behavior. We’re grounded in our values.
That said, I think Azita — the real me — is a little more open in how she leads. Roslyn, especially this first season, takes her leadership cues from her boss. She works in a very collaborative space with lots of different personalities, and she’s careful and intentional about how she moves through that.
I’d also say Azita is probably a bit more outgoing than Roslyn — at least the version of Roslyn you see in season one. But I think by the time you get to the finale, you start to understand why she’s been holding back a bit. She’s slowly coming back to life, and I hope in season two you’ll get to see her be bolder, more playful, and really come into her own.
Yitzi: Okay, so this is our signature question. You’ve been blessed with a lot of success. Looking back to when you first started, can you share five things that you’ve learned now that you wish you knew when you first started acting?
Azita: Five things.
- First, there are no shortcuts.
- Success is not a sprint — it’s a marathon.
- Rejection is absolutely not personal.
- Having the ability to be resilient in the face of consistent rejection is your greatest gift.
- And finally, make your own things. Don’t wait for someone to hire you.
Yitzi: That’s great. Can you share with our readers the self-care routines that you do to help your body, mind, and heart thrive?
Azita: I’m a big fan of any wellness routine. I really believe in slowing down when you need to. I believe in self-care in that way. I also believe in self-parenting, which to me means being who you say you are — following through on your word. Showing up in the way you present yourself to the world is something I value a lot.
I love to run, exercise, walk my dog, drink tons of water, meditate, and use my sauna blanket. And I like to balance all that out with a couple of good champagnes and a nice piece of chocolate cake here and there. I think life is about really living. You’re never going to look back and regret the fun you had.
There’s a time to be serious and work hard, and then there’s a time to play, to be silly, and to just enjoy life — because it all moves really fast.
Yitzi: This is our final aspirational question. Azita, because of your great work and the platform you’ve built, you’re a person of enormous influence. If you could put out an idea, spread an idea, or inspire a movement that would bring the most good to the most people, what would that be?
Azita: How do I say this? — I’m nowhere close to being a billionaire. I’m a thousand-aire, you know what I mean? I’m definitely not hitting those numbers.
But if I had influence over billionaires, I’d try to shift their mindset. I read a story about a man in Florida who used his wealth to build up entire communities — schools, leadership programs, housing, community centers — and it had something like a 99% graduation rate. The people in the community came back to support it, and it became this self-sustaining ecosystem.
I think if more billionaires focused less on growing their fortunes and more on investing in their local communities, we could tackle some of the biggest issues — like food scarcity, which is something I care deeply about. Or the massive gap in education. Every kid should have a computer. Every kid should have a free lunch. And honestly, I don’t understand why saying kids should be able to eat is a controversial opinion.
I think the way our taxes are distributed is unfair, and if I had influence, I’d use it to push the idea that money can be a tool for good. Not just for accumulation. Not just for power. But to actually help people. That would be the movement I’d want to start.
And just to put it out into the universe — if I ever was a billionaire, I’d definitely be feeding into my community. And personally? I’d build an animal shelter that feels like a massive spa for dogs. Parks, play areas, peaceful spaces. A place where animals without homes could still live in comfort and joy.
Yitzi: How can our readers continue to follow your work? How can they watch Suits: LA? How can they support you in any possible way?
Azita: Everyone can watch Suits: LA on NBC right now. Our airtime is Sundays at 9:00 p.m., and the next day, you can binge the entire thing on Peacock. If you’ve got Hulu Live, you can catch it there too, or on any of the live TV platforms. So please, please tune in on NBC or binge the series on Peacock.
And you can always follow me on Instagram at @AzitaGram. My niece actually came up with that — it’s way too hip for me to have thought of on my own. I was going to go with Azita Ghanizada, and she was like, “That’s way too many letters.” So, it’s not my full name — it’s @AzitaGram.
Yitzi: Great. Thank you for everything. It was so nice to meet you. I hope we can do this again next year.
Azita: So nice to meet you. Me too. Fingers crossed.
From Refugee to ‘Suits: LA’ Star: Azita Ghanizada on Representation, Resilience and Revolutionizing… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.