Sarah Shahi wants to inspire other women to follow their dreams.
Shahi stars in the upcoming NBC thriller Reverie, becoming the first Persian actress to lead a U.S. network drana.
“It’s really cool, and I don’t take much credit for it in terms of breaking glass ceilings,” she told PEOPLE. “I think it’s the women who came before me helped pave that route.”
But Shahi said she hopes more diverse roles will become available for other women of color.
“If this can somehow open doors for other women of color, I think that’s a great thing,” she said.
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In Reverie, Shahi stars as a former hostage negotiator and human behavior expert who is hired to work at a cutting-edge company creating virtual reality programs.
Along with her work as an actress, Shahi is a mother of three with husband Steve Howey.
The couple, who wed in 2009, are parents to son William, 8 and twins Violet and Knox, 3.
“They’re a handful,” says Shahi. “Those kids are my beginning and my end.”
Reverie premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
