Talayeh Ashrafi (;), known professionally as Tala Ashe, is an Iranian-American actress. Known for her roles on the television series '' Smash'', '' American Odyssey'', and ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...

'', as well as her regular role as Zari Tomaz and Zari Tarazi on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

series ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, ...

''. Ashe acted in severals musical and play productions, including

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

's original production of '' The Who & the What'' and '' English'', for which she received nominations at the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway theatre, ...

and at the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

Early life and education

Ashe was born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran. She immigrated to the United States when she was nine months old. Ashe grew up in

Powell, Ohio Powell is a city in Delaware County, Ohio, United States, located 14 miles (21.5 km) north of the state capital of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. Powell had an estimated population of 14,163 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Founded i ...

, just outside of the state capital Columbus. She participated in her high school theatre productions as both an actress and director. Ashe received a BFA from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

's School of Theatre. She also trained at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

and the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Ad ...

in New York City.

Career

Ashe has performed in numerous regional and

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

stage productions. Ashe's first screen credit is for her role as Nadia in the 2008 film ''Waiting in Beijing''. She was credited as Tala Ashrafi, but is credited as Tala Ashe in all subsequent roles. She has made guest appearances on the series ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'', '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'', and ''

Covert Affairs ''Covert Affairs'' is an American action drama television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. On January 6, 2015, USA Network canceled ''Covert Affairs'' afte ...

''. Ashe has also had recurring roles on '' Smash'' and '' American Odyssey''. She was also a cast member on ''

''. In 2017, Ashe joined the main cast of ''

'' as Zari Tomaz. She took the lead for a

bottle episode In episodic television, a bottle episode or bottle show is an episode produced cheaply and restricted in scope to use as few regular cast members, effects and sets as possible. Bottle episodes are usually shot on sets built for other episodes, fr ...

titled " Here I Go Again" and drew praise from critics and fans alike for her performance. In 2022 Ashe was cast for the lead role of Elham on

debout musical '' English'' at the Linda Gross Theatre. After playing the role in a number of theatres in the US, the musical debuted on Broadway at the

Roundabout Theatre Company The Roundabout Theatre Company is a nonprofit organization, non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fr ...

's Todd Haimes Theatre in January 2025. He performance gave her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play and a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

Personal life

Ashe is Iranian-American and holds dual citizenship. Her name, Talayeh, means "pioneer" in Persian and comes from the ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

''. In addition to English, she speaks fluent

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. Along with her fellow

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...

actresses, Ashe is a founding member of Shethority, a project aimed at inspiring and uplifting women (inclusively defined).

Filmography

Stage

In addition to the following, Ashe has also performed in productions of ''

Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as ...

'' (as Tala Ashrafi; Huntington Theatre Company), ''Age of Innocence'' (New York Arena), ''Autophagy'' (Drama League Director's Project), ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'' (Actors' Shakespeare Project), and ''Pearls from Salt'' ( Olney Theatre), among others.

Broadway productions

Off-Broadway productions

Other productions

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, Tala Living people Iranian television actresses People from Powell, Ohio Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Actresses from Tehran 21st-century Iranian actresses American television actresses Iranian stage actresses American stage actresses Iranian emigrants to the United States 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)