about
Sanam Laila Hashemi is an Iranian-American actor, writer, and producer based in New York City.
As an actor, she’s passionate about developing new work and has workshopped plays with Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout Theatre Company, The Acting Company, JACK, and Ridge Theater. TV credits include Succession (HBO), Dear Edward (AppleTV), and Full Circle (HBO). Regionally, she’s performed with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Virginia Rep, TheaterWorks Hartford, Mosaic Theatre Company, Mile Square Theatre, and Theatre SilCo.
Sanam is the lead producer at Working Theater, an off-Broadway theater company committed to closing the access gap to theater by creating new plays for, with, and about working people.
She was an inaugural playwright fellow for Cadence Theatre Company's Pipeline New Works Program, writing two new plays under the mentorship of David Lindsay-Abaire: Cross Stitch Bandits (co-written with Steven Burneson) and Thursday. Cross Stitch Bandits made its world premiere as a Virginia Repertory Theatre/Cadence Theatre Company co-production in March 2023 (RTCC nomination for Best Original Play). She also writes and produces short films with a gang of collaborators, like Jiggle the Knob (Best Narrative Short, Progeny Film Fest) and Don’t Blink Twice.
She holds degrees in Theater Performance and International Studies from Virginia Tech and is represented by DGRW.
Most recently:
Played Elham in English by Sanaz Toossi, directed by Kimberly Senior, at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s 2025 season.
Upcoming:
Voiced the role of Anne de Bough in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley for Audible, coming December 2025.