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Aneesh Sheth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aneesh Sheth
Born (1982-01-05) January 5, 1982 (age 42)
Alma materNew York University Tisch School of the Arts
Occupation(s)Actor, filmmaker, activist
Years active2011–present

Aneesh Sheth (born January 5, 1982) is an Indian-American actress and transgender activist.

Biography

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Aneesh Sheth was born in India, but moved to the United States when she was little. Her parents were "very supportive" of theatrical arts and Sheth chose to pursue a career resulting in acting on stage starting at the age of 7. In 2008, Sheth went through her transition after she chose to help LGBTQ kids by joining The Trevor Project and The Stigma Project. After hearing transgender people speak, Sheth realized that she too was trans and decided to begin the process. On coming out to her family, she faced both support and opposition. "Nearly everyone said that they weren’t surprised. I did experience some loss in certain relationships, but it strengthened some others. You learn that life is short and you don't have time to waste on people who aren't going to fully accept you for who you are."[1][2]

Her first major acting role was as Kami Sutra in the short lived NBC sitcom Outsourced. She only appeared in 2 episodes, but considered it a turning point in her career stating, "I should not limit myself because of who I am".[3] Sheth was cast as Gillian in the third and final season of Jessica Jones, which is part of the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. She liked that her character being trans was not a major issue and was treated like a regular thing adding, "there’s no mention of [Gillian] being trans within the show, nor a narrative around her identity. Which I think is wonderful because trans people exist in the world and it’s not always about their [trans] narrative."[4] In a similar way, no mention is made of her character Amy being trans in the movie Red, White and Royal Blue.[5]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 Outsourced Kami Sutra 2 episodes
My Inner Turmoil Priya Short film
2012 Arbore Cypress Short film
2015 Crave Maggie TV Pilot; Also writer, producer and director
Semi-Secret Valerie Derasport
2017 Difficult People Wendy Episode: "Sweet Tea"
2018 A Kid Like Jake Dr. Laurel Hendricks
High Maintenance Ardhi Episode: "Fagin"
2018–19 New Amsterdam Lila 3 episodes
2019 Jessica Jones Gillian 8 episodes
Insomnia Kat Miniseries; 2 episodes
2020 First One In Preeti
2021 The Other Two Rhadika Kamini Patel Episode: "Chase Becomes Co-Owner of the Nets"
2022 The Walking Dead Jan Episode: "Rogue Element"
2023 Foul Play Jen Smith / Gwen Kindtale 2 episodes
Red, White and Royal Blue Amy Gupta

References

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  1. ^ "Interview with Aneesh Sheth". The Heroines of My Life. blogspot. March 24, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  2. ^ Leeds, Ryan (June 6, 2016). "The Force of Sheth: An Interview with Multimedia Star Aneesh Sheth". The Manhattan Digest. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  3. ^ Wong, Curtis M. (May 1, 2017). "How This Trans Actress Was Happily Proven Wrong About Show Business". Huff Post. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  4. ^ Scott, Darren (June 13, 2019). "Aneesh Sheth, star of Marvel's Jessica Jones: 'It's not all about the trans narrative'". Inews. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  5. ^ Stroude, Will (2023-07-25). "Trans Red, White & Royal Blue star Aneesh Sheth says film 'changed her life'". PinkNews. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
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