Sarah Shahi on Sex Life fame and new memoir

Well, Sarah Shahi has starred in some of the most intense shows on television.

Currently featuring in the Emmy-nominated Paradise,

the actor first-grouped audiences in the much-talked about series Sex Life,

which had more than 170 million people glued to their TV screens.

One of the most important decisions you'll ever make is who to spend your life with.

I see you watching me with those eyes.

The time right after you blow up your life.

It's usually the most exciting.

But what many don't know is that very character is holding a mirror up to Sarah's real relationships,

pushing her to confront what she describes as life's messy middle.

And now she's opening up about the trauma and triumphs in a powerful new memoir,

reminding us all that no matter how tough a chapter may feel,

there's always a better one waiting to be written.

And Sarah Shahi joins us now live from LA.

Welcome to the Morning Show.

Great to see you.

It's so lovely to be here. Thank you for having me.

Well, we're going to start with Sex Life.

We just saw the clip of that.

It really got the world talking.

When seeing the storyline and reading those very raunchy scenes,

did you know that it was going to be a hit?

Or did you jump in or with some reservations?

No, there were no reservations, you know,

prior to getting that show, like many women, I just felt overtired.

I was overburdened.

Self-care looked like adding that amusal to every meal.

And I wanted a life that was much bigger than the one that I was leading.

So when I got approached for the show and I got the role, it really kind of felt like the script

was just ripped from the pages of my heart.

Okay, how your character, Billy, quickly became the poster child for unhappy women sort of everywhere.

You will flood the word messages, won't you?

Like, you're getting messages from all over the world on this.

From all over the world, men were very scared of me.

If they knew that their wives or girlfriends were contacting me,

they were nervous.

But yes, you know, Billy, the role of Billy, she became a buzz in my veins that I couldn't

escape because she had the courage to question all of those things that I was too scared to question

for so many years.

So she really did propel me into this new chapter of my life as she did for many women.

Yeah, you said that the show mirrored what was going on in your own personal life.

Can you tell us what you mean by that?

Yeah, you know, again, just the, this narrative, I feel like all women have abided by

from the beginning of time, which is you are to put your needs last, you know,

that of your family's comes first.

And you really shouldn't want anything more of than that,

that that's the stuff that should make you happy.

And if you have dreams, then you really should just bury them because you come last.

So, but, you know, again, she gave me the courage to question all of that stuff.

And to say, you know what, I think my life is meant for something more than just

dinner at the table every night at six.

Okay, you're new book.

We've got to talk about that.

Congratulations on it.

Yeah, what you call life's messy middle.

What made you decide to sort of open up and share all of this with the world?

What was behind that decision?

Yeah, well, you know, so sex life, we started filming sex life in late 2020.

And earlier that year, I had gotten my divorce.

It was COVID.

People would ask me how I'm doing.

And I would just say, I don't know, life is life-y.

I guess you just got to follow your happy.

And so that kind of became my motto.

When the show came out, it was around the same time that news of my divorce broke.

And women from all over the world really flocked to me about how did you have the courage

to do it to go after the life of your dreams.

The actress strike happened two years later and I wrote an article for Glamour magazine that

went viral called Why Desire is Not A Dirty Word.

The show was also very sexually empowering for women.

And when that went viral, I just was like, you know what, I think maybe I have an audience,

maybe I have a voice and all the DMs that come my way, I can actually put them somewhere.

I kind of refuse to believe that my pain is ever in vain.

And, you know, at the end of the day, I feel like if you've learned something,

you have some kind of wisdom to pass on,

then it feels like a privilege and an obligation to do so.

So that's where the idea of the book came from.

And also, it's structured as an eye-to-zid.

God-free, yeah.

So what was that important to you?

And how hard was it to get the title life is life-y across the line with the publisher?

Are they all in for that?

Yeah, they were actually.

You know, it was, I loved the title so much.

I felt like it was catchy, you know, but it wasn't gimmicky that there were a couple

publishers that they didn't understand what it meant.

And instead of me changing the title, I just said, you know what, let me align with somebody who

understands what this is because I'm not going to change this part of my vision.

And yeah, you know, I mean, as people on the go,

we live in such a fast-paced society that I feel like people don't really read anymore.

So I wanted something that almost felt like an encyclopedia,

that you could turn to any chapter at any point, read a couple pages,

you know, get some nuggets of wisdom, close it and be better off for it and move on with your day.

Great way to attack a book.

You're now starring in the Emmy-nominated Paradise Season 2 just come out.

Is it fun for you, you know, seeing all the fans trying to guess

these wild theories of where it's all going?

Oh, yeah. Oh, it is, it's such a wonderful part of the show, the fact that the audience is

constantly guessing and left in the dark and you get little pieces each episode.

It's exciting to see what the, what the fan messages are.

Yeah, I've watched see, I loved season one and I'm just saving season two.

Yeah, you know, it seems to gratification these days so it's kind of nice to save something up.

That's right, that's right, we want it when we want it, we don't want to wait.

Sarah, lovely to talk to you this morning.

This segment proudly brought to you by Metamusel.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. I love Australia.

It's really an honor to be here.

Thanks for having me.

And we love you, right?

Okay.

Come and see us sometime.

Sarah Shahe's book is called Life is Life.

I feel the aid is said of navigating life's messy middle.

It's at March 17, just around the corner and you can pre-order it online now.

Great.