Pooya Mohseni

Pooya Mohseni is an Iranian-American actress, writer, and LGBTQ rights activist. Born in Tehran, Iran, she relocated to New York City at the age of 18, where she initially studied design before pursuing a career in acting. Mohseni is fluent in Persian and English and has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, and women's issues. She publicly came out as transgender in 2015, following the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States, and has spoken openly about the harassment and discrimination she experienced in Iran, including suicide attempts related to her identity, as well as the significant discrimination she faced as a transgender Iranian immigrant in the United States.

Mohseni's screen career spans television, film, and video games. Her television appearances include guest roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Falling Water, Madam Secretary, and Big Dogs on Amazon Prime Video, and in 2025 she appeared in three episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City. Her film work includes a role in the 2016 independent slasher film Terrifier and a starring role in the 2021 drama See You Then, which drew critical attention to her performance. In 2022, she wrote and starred in the 18-minute short film Transit: A New York City Fairytale. She has also contributed voice performances to video games, among them Destiny 2: The Final Shape and Hellboy: Web of Wyrd, and she has worked as a writer and consultant on various projects.

Mohseni made her Broadway debut in 2025, appearing in the play Old English. Her stage work also includes a 2022 appearance in Sanaz Toossi's play English.