Sarah Shahi can relate to her “Sex/Life” character Billie, maybe more than anyone even realized.
The actress recently talked about how she got the role, the similarities between her life and Billie’s life, and if she thinks there will be a third season of the hit Netflix show during a recent episode of “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast.
Sara Shahi Spills The Tea On How She Got The Role Of Billie On Netflix’s “Sex/Life”
Shahi, 43, got the script for “Sex/Life” back in 2019 when she was dealing with unhappiness in her personal life. The timing seemed perfect.
“I was just questioning everything,” she said. “And then as a wife and as a mom and stuff, you get told, but you have it good. And I just felt so unseen.”
She had been married to “Shameless” actor Steve Howey for 11 years and together for 18, but the relationship was on the rocks. The couple shares three children, William, 13, and twins Violet and Knox, 8.
“I just think, over time, we had met, were very young when we met, and we grew up together, but I think as we grew up, we also changed and to be able to acknowledge that like we’ve been trying to make the other person versions of themselves that they’re not,” she explained.
While reading the script for “Sex/Life,” the actress said she felt like the first time she’s been seen, so she auditioned for the role of Billie.
“I auditioned for the show, and I tanked the audition. I didn’t do well,” she said. “It was the first time, there were three scenes, and the last scene was her; I don’t know if you remember the episode where Billie is with the moms, and they’re walking in Soho, and she’s pushing the cart, and she flashes back to like when Brad got the tattoo of the bees, and she’s like cupcake store, what am I doing now, that whole scene. That was the last scene, and I just blanked.”
She ended up leaving the audition, getting a bottle of tequila and a burrito from Chipotle, drowning her sorrows on the sidewalk. Shahi struggled with the fact that she wanted this role.
“I wanted it so bad. It almost felt like I was chasing it, like I was chasing my destiny, or my life,” she said. “It was not a job for me.”
She later explained that she chased this show like she was “chasing a lifeline.”
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Thinking that achieving her dream wouldn’t become a reality, she got a call that they loved her in the audition, and she still had a shot at getting the role.
“I started putting myself back on tape, and I did the three scenes the way I wanted to do them, and I submitted it, and they were appreciative that I did that,” she said. “And then I got a call; I’ll never forget it; it was like January 7, 2000. My phone was blowing up left and right, and my rep said I got it.”
Her marriage ended in May 2020, and filming began about three months later. She said she saw herself as her character, which helped her move forward in the divorce. “It rocked me on a cellular level,” she said. “It gave me the courage to say I’m not happy, and I feel like we should, as individuals, have the right to be happy.”
Life Imitates Art…
While season 2 of the popular series was much faster than the first season with just six episodes, the last episode wrapped things up so that if the show doesn’t come back for a third season, fans at least got the closure they needed. Shahi said she would love to do a few more seasons as Billie, but shortly after her podcast interview, Netflix announced that there will be no season 3.
“I’m a fan of the show. Even though I’m in the show, I also fell for Brad and Billie. I was just like, damn, I like the dynamic on screen,” she said.
And for those who aren’t aware, life imitates art with Shahi and her costar Adam Demos, 37, who plays the role of Brad. The two began dating during filming for season 1.
“It was not instant. It was over time; it was getting to know him and seeing how aligned our values were,” she said.
“I also really respected how he talked about his mom and how he talked about women. There was just so much I started seeing over time that made me go, ‘Oh, you’re kind of everything I’ve ever wanted.’ And that’s when we started being together.”
Sarah Shahi Is Working On A Book And Has A New Role Lined Up
Shahi already has another role lined up on the new ABC pilot, “Judgement,” and she’s trying to write a book about what the part on “Sex/Life” did for her life.
“I admire her courage so much,” she said. “The fact that she is a wife and a mother, but she was pining for the days where she felt free and alive, but simultaneously a good mom. It doesn’t make her a bad mom.”
