Pooya Mohseni

Pooya Mohseni
Born	Tehran, Iran
Occupations	Actress LGBTQ rights activist
Years active	2010—Present

Pooya Mohseni is an Iranian-American actress and LGBTQ rights activist. She has appeared in various television series including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Madam Secretary , and The Walking Dead: Dead City. In film, she appeared in the slasher film Terrifier (2016) and starred in See You Then (2021), the latter of which garnered her critical acclaim.

Personal life and career

Mohseni was born in Tehran, Iran, and moved to New York City, U.S., at the age of 18. ^[1] She studied design in New York and later became an actress. ^[2]

Mohseni has spoken about the harassment and discrimination she faced in Iran, including several suicide attempts due to her identity as a transgender woman. ^[3] She also revealed that she faced significant discrimination in the United States as a transgender Iranian immigrant. After the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. in 2015, she publicly came out as transgender. ^[3] She is fluent in both Persian and English and is an active advocate for LGBTQ rights, as well as a vocal supporter of immigrant and women's issues. ^[4] She also contributes to writing and consulting on LGBTQ-centric stories. ^{[5] [6]}

She has appeared as a guest on several TV shows including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , Falling Water , Madam Secretary , and Big Dogs on Amazon Prime Video. In 2016, she appeared in the independent slasher film Terrifier. ^{[7] [8]} In 2021, she starred in the drama See You Then . ^{[9] [10] [11]} Critical reviews highlighted her performance. ^{[12] [13] [14]} In 2022, she wrote and starred in the 18-minute short film Transit: A New York City Fairytale. ^[15] That year, she appeared in the Sanaz Toossi play English . ^{[16] [17]} In 2025, she appeared in three episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City . ^{[18] [19]} She has contributed her voice to multiple video games including Destiny 2: The Final Shape and Hellboy: Web of Wyrd . ^{[20] [21]}

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	So Damn Funny Show	Trainee; Bitchy Boss	1 episode
2013	Celebrity Ghost Stories	Nadine's Mom	1 episode
2013	Below the Line	Mina	1 episode
2014	Jus' Sayin' Productions	Mom	1 episode
2015	Madam Secretary	Samilia Mahdavi	1 episode
2016	Falling Water	Dr. Duria	3 episodes
2017	The Four Letter Word	Ghazal	2 episodes
2018	Grosse Misconduct	Alicia Castile	6 episodes
2020	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Judge Namazi	1 episode
2020	Big Dogs	Baijanti Divya	5 episodes
2020–2021	Rival Peak	Winter	12 episodes
2021	High Herstory	The Storyteller	1 episode
2021	Tawkin' with the Roses	Herself	1 episode
2025	The Walking Dead: Dead City	Roksana	3 episodes

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	When Death Calls	Lorraine Castro
2014	Bloody Subway Party	Daisy
2014	Subways	Stephanie
2015	Brutal Colors	Mysterious
2015	Giorgio Bush and the B-people	Bank representative
2015	Before the Snow	Nitya
2016	Lucky	Prisca
2016	Terrifier	Cat Lady
2017	Ghost Source Zero	Newscaster
2017	My Brother's Keeper	Madeline
2019	Theresa & Allison	The Mysterious Woman
2020	Lapsis	Noori Capahardi
2020	Thorp	Frannie
2021	See You Then	Kris Ahadi
2021	I See You and You See Me	Sarah
2021	Less Than or Equal To	Bailey
2022	Remote	Ramesh
2022	Entanglement	Allie
2023	Nightmare Radio: The Night Stalker	Eartha
2023	The Arrival	Jayce Fisher
2023	Bound	Yeva
2024	Heather	Heather

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2022	Horizon Forbidden West	Ivinna; Sentekka
2023	Hellboy: Web of Word	Scheherezade
2023	Thirsty Suitors	Sound
2024	Destiny 2: The Final Shape	Micah-10

References

1. Goldoust, Shaya (September 3, 2022). "مسیری پر از تبعیض تا رسیدن به موفقیت؛ گفتگو با «پویا محسنی»" [A Path Full of Discrimination to Success; A Conversation with Pooya Mohseni] (in Persian). IranWire. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
2. "Pooya Mohseni" . Retrieved February 18, 2023.
3. "روایت پویا محسنی بازیگر ایرانی‌تبار و فعال حقوق دگرباشان جنسی از آزار و اذیت در ایران" [Pooya Mohseni, Iranian-American actress and LGBT rights activist, recounts her story of harassment in Iran]. Voice of America (in Persian). Retrieved February 18, 2022.
4. "Guest Blog: Pooya Mohseni Talks Sex, Gender and Humanity in THE SEX PARTY Coming to the Menier Chocolate Factory". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
5. "Living Trans, From Iran to New York City". The Advocate. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
6. Gans, Andrew (March 21, 2022). "Pooya Mohseni Hosts Boundless Theater's Inaugural Gala, Featuring Jenn Colella and More, March 21". Playbill . Retrieved September 3, 2025.
7. Booker, M. Keith (2021). "The Slasher Film: An Introduction". bookerhorror.com. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
8. Vasquez Jr., Felix (October 31, 2018). "Terrifier (2017)". Cinema Crazed. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
9. "اکران‌ فیلمی با بازی پویا محسنی هنرمند ایرانی‌تبار در نقش یک زن تراجنسیتی" [Screening of a film starring Iranian-born artist Pooya Mohseni as a transgender woman]. Voice of America (in Persian). Retrieved March 4, 2023.
10. Saito, Stephen (April 1, 2022). "Mari Walker on Having a Clear Vision for See You Then". The Moveable Fest. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
11. Grobar, Matt (16 March 2021). "See You Then Star Pooya Mohseni On Examining Identity, Womanhood & Trans Experience 'With Love And Authenticity' – SXSW Studio". Deadline . Retrieved 4 September 2025.
12. Allen, Nick (April 1, 2022). "See You Then". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
13. Le, Phuong (April 4, 2022). "See You Then review – bitterness bubbles up as old lovers meet". The Guardian. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
14. Black, Sarah-Tai (March 31, 2022). "Review: Two lovers meet up a decade after breaking up in compassionate drama See You Then" . Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
15. "Atlanta's LGBTQ Film Festival OUT ON FILM Announces the Line-Up". Cinema Daily US. August 23, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
16. Cote, David (January 24, 2025). "Review: 'English' Speaks Eloquently of Language and Loss". Observer . Retrieved September 3, 2025.
17. Evans, Greg (26 November 2024). "Broadway Production Of Sanaz Toossi's 'English' To Feature Acclaimed Original Off Broadway Cast". Deadline .
18. Mason, Charlie (2025-05-19). "TWD: Dead City Introduces a New Group That's Even Weirder Than the OG Series' Scavengers". TVLine. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
19. Rice, Lynette (2024-07-26). "'The Walking Dead: Dead City' Boosts Season 2 Cast For 2025 Return". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
20. "Destiny 2 voice actor for every character". Dexerto. 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
21. Poskitt, Matt. "Hellboy Web of Wyrd voice actors - Lance Reddick tops the cast list | Radio Times". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 2025-09-05.