Aneesh Sheth

{{Infobox person

|name = Aneesh Sheth

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1982|1|5}}

|birth_place = Pune, India

|alma_mater = New York University Tisch School of the Arts

|occupation = Actor, filmmaker, activist

|yearsactive = 2011–present

}}

Aneesh Sheth (born January 5, 1982) is an Indian-American actress and transgender activist.

Biography

Aneesh Sheth was born in India, but moved to the United States when she was little. Her parents were "very supportive" of theatrical arts and Sheth chose to pursue a career resulting in acting on stage starting at the age of 7. In 2008, Sheth went through her transition after she chose to help LGBTQ kids by joining The Trevor Project and The Stigma Project. After hearing transgender people speak, Sheth realized that she too was trans and decided to begin the process. On coming out to her family, she faced both support and opposition. "Nearly everyone said that they weren’t surprised. I did experience some loss in certain relationships, but it strengthened some others. You learn that life is short and you don't have time to waste on people who aren't going to fully accept you for who you are."{{cite web|url=http://theheroines.blogspot.com/2014/03/interview-with-aneesh-sheth.html|title=Interview with Aneesh Sheth|website=The Heroines of My Life|publisher=blogspot|date=March 24, 2014|accessdate=June 13, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.manhattandigest.com/2016/07/06/the-force-of-sheth-an-interview-with-multimedia-star-aneesh-sheth/|title=The Force of Sheth: An Interview with Multimedia Star Aneesh Sheth|website=The Manhattan Digest|last=Leeds|first=Ryan|date=June 6, 2016|accessdate=June 13, 2019}}

Her first major acting role was as Kami Sutra in the short lived NBC sitcom Outsourced. She only appeared in 2 episodes, but considered it a turning point in her career stating, "I should not limit myself because of who I am".{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/aneesh-sheth-twelfth-night_n_5903b736e4b0bb2d086e9ad4|website=Huff Post|title=How This Trans Actress Was Happily Proven Wrong About Show Business|last=Wong|first=Curtis M.|date=May 1, 2017|accessdate=June 13, 2019}} Sheth was cast as Gillian in the third and final season of Jessica Jones, which is part of the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. She liked that her character being trans was not a major issue and was treated like a regular thing adding, "there’s no mention of [Gillian] being trans within the show, nor a narrative around her identity. Which I think is wonderful because trans people exist in the world and it’s not always about their [trans] narrative."{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/marvels-jessica-jones-aneesh-sheth-interview-netflix-not-about-trans-narrative/|title=Aneesh Sheth, star of Marvel's Jessica Jones: 'It's not all about the trans narrative'|website=Inews|last=Scott|first=Darren|date=June 13, 2019|accessdate=June 13, 2019}} In a similar way, no mention is made of her character Amy being trans in the movie Red, White and Royal Blue.{{cite web |last=Stroude |first=Will |date=2023-07-25 |title=Trans Red, White & Royal Blue star Aneesh Sheth says film 'changed her life' |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/25/aneesh-sheth-trans-red-white-and-royal-blue-amy/ |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=PinkNews }}

Filmography

class = "wikitable sortable"
Year !Title !Role !Notes
rowspan=2\| 2011 \|Outsourced \|Kami Sutra \|2 episodes
My Inner Turmoil \|Priya \|Short film
2012 \|Arbore \|Cypress \|Short film
rowspan=2\| 2015 \|Crave \|Maggie \|TV Pilot; Also writer, producer and director
Semi-Secret \|Valerie Derasport \|
2017 \|Difficult People \|Wendy \|Episode: "Sweet Tea"
rowspan=2\| 2018 \|A Kid Like Jake \|Dr. Laurel Hendricks \|
High Maintenance \|Ardhi \|Episode: "Fagin"
2018–19 \|New Amsterdam \|Lila \|3 episodes
rowspan=2\| 2019 \|Jessica Jones \|Gillian \|8 episodes
Insomnia \|Kat \|Miniseries; 2 episodes
2020 \|First One In \|Preeti \|
2021 \|The Other Two \| Rhadika Kamini Patel \| Episode: "Chase Becomes Co-Owner of the Nets"
2022 \|The Walking Dead \| Jan \| Episode: "Rogue Element"
rowspan=2\| 2023 \|Foul Play \| Jen Smith / Gwen Kindtale \| 2 episodes
Red, White and Royal Blue \|Amy Gupta \|

class = "wikitable sortable"

Year

!Title

!Role

!Notes

rowspan=2| 2011

|Outsourced

|Kami Sutra

|2 episodes

My Inner Turmoil

|Priya

|Short film