Sarah Shahi: Fighting Fit
To play Stallones daughter in the upcoming Bullet to the Head, Sarah Shahi had to be fighting fit on screen and off.
You might know Sarah Shahi as the star of USA Networks Fairly Legal, where she starred as Kate Reed, a loveable legal brain who makes the leap from top lawyer to mediator. As Kate, Shahi sported professional, yet fitted shift dresses and curve-hugging styles showing off her sleek physique.
But in her latest film, the half-Spanish, half Iranian actress goes from sleek to strong and tough as nails. In the action Bullet to the Head, opening February 1, she stars as Lisa Bobo, daughter to Jimmy Bobo, tough guy and professional assassin. The pair have an estranged relationship, Shahi says, “my mom is gone and we are the only things we have in this world.”
When Jimmys partner is killed, the two reconnect, if at first tenuously. But when Lisa is kidnapped, Jimmys revenge mission gets personal.
When you play Sylvester Stallones daughter, the apple cant fall far from the tree. When Shahi first met Stallone, she prepared by doing a little bit of reconnaissance watching his mannerisms and the way about him. “We hit it off instantly, and I knew I was up for the role of his daughter,” she says. “So, I mimicked a little of what he did, how he sat, what he did with his hands.” Some of that father-daughter camaraderie even extended off-screen, she says.
When it comes to the intense, physical action that a classic Stallone film is known for, Shahi couldnt wait to jump in. When she did get a fight scene, she took her mission seriously, accidentally striking a co-star. “I really did knock him, I got a little too close,” she says.
The fighting and action is intense, Shahi admits, “but what was really intense for me were those really I had to do my first nude scene.” The Texas native, former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader and pageant winner has always been fitness-oriented (she has a brown belt in karate from her teen years), but she took on extra training, a good steady diet and an unexpected element into her menu.
“I ate Cheetos and vegetables, and I worked out like a maniac,” she says. “I really did eat Cheetos a little bag is 150 calories then I would eat veggies, like broccoli and cauliflower. For my dinners , I wouldnt eat past 4 [PM]. I worked out like a crazy person, like two hours a day.”
On her off time, when shes not starring in films or TV series (including The L Word, Life and Chicago Fire), she makes the health and wellbeing of others a priority. Shes worked with charitable campaigns like Autism Speaks, for which she recently hosted an event that raised $40. “I just want to do whatever I can and gain as much money for research and finding a cure.”
