Why Renée Royce From Chicago Fire Looks So Familiar

Everyone remembers the lovely Renée Royce from the early seasons of NBC's "Chicago Fire." One of the first significant flames for the fan-favorite lieutenant Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), the well-accomplished beauty had a short and somewhat bittersweet storyline. Royce and Severide had a cute meet-cute after Royce's car almost caught fire, and Severide rescued her; while he was initially reluctant to begin a relationship, he eventually let his guard down.

Royce was a well-rounded character working as an international finance lawyer. She put her heart into her work, and her hard work led to a promotion in Madrid. Audiences saw Severide and Royce make the tough decision to part. While Royce wants Severide to come with her, his father (Treat Williams) reminds him of his passion for his job and how it would hurt to give it up, so they break up. The break-up is short-lived when Royce returns, informing Severide that she is pregnant with his baby at the end of Season 1. Twists and turns, oh my. Fans, alongside Royce herself, discover that her child was not Severide's. After this, the relationship ended for good.

Sarah Shahi, the actress responsible for bringing Renée Royce to life, has been in several projects before and since then. Here are some of her more impressive credits.

Sarah Shahi had a significant breakout role in the popular crime-mobster show "The Sopranos." Though the show ended over ten years ago, it continues to be remembered in its reruns for the suspense and adrenaline involved. "The Sopranos" follows Italian American Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), who, while living in New Jersey, tries to be a family man and your respectable mob boss all in one. Audiences got to know Tony Soprano and his family for six seasons and over eighty episodes.

Shahi portrayed a Vegas stripper named Sonya Aragon, who had earlier romanced Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), Tony's protégé and distant nephew. While some faithful fans may have forgotten the character Shahi played on "The Sopranos," they have a good reason since "Kennedy and Heidi" was an extremely pivotal episode. In it, audiences saw Tony finally rid himself of Christopher once and for all.

Christopher and Tony get into a car crash due to the former driving intoxicated. A destroyed baby seat in the back of the car leads Tony to kill his nephew as it symbolizes Christopher's carelessness and how that negligence would've killed Christopher's recently born daughter. Tony then suffocates his nephew. Afterward, he spends a romantic evening with Sonya, which ends with watching the sunrise after big casino winnings.

During an appearance on the podcast "10,000 NOs," Shahi credited "The Sopranos" for helping elevate her career: "That one episode did more for me than all of my TV shows combined."

In 2011 Sarah Shahi joined a sitcom, "Fairly Legal," as Kate Reed, a top lawyer at her father's firm. Recently unsatisfied with her role in the field, Kate switches her profession to an evaluative mediator shortly before her father's death.

With her father's passing comes her grief and deep discomfort. Left behind from the tragedy is Lauren Reed (Virginia Williams), who is not only Kate's father's widow but is also Kate's age. An uncomfortable dynamic, the women must navigate the firm and other family-related businesses as they sort their lives after the father's death. The two understandably butt heads, trying to find out how to tolerate each other for the sake of the business.

Unfortunately for Shahi, the show ended just after two seasons. However, it at least showed promise of reconciliation between Kate and her young stepmom, who, at the end of the day, still have each other's backs, no matter what, even if they say differently through banter and jabs.

Who doesn't remember "Person of Interest"? With an interesting premise that helped everyone feel like a hero, it was suspenseful, with hours of entertaining missions and sass from Sameen Shaw.

Following the events of 9/11, "Person of Interest" centers on billionaire Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), who creates a computer program named "The Machine." "The Machine" is invented to collect critical information on potential terrorist attacks and their possible perpetrators. All the while, moral judgment is questioned as the program violates personal privacy and the problems that ensue when one jumps to a conclusion on limited evidence and information.

Sarah Shahi starred in 50 episodes as Sameen Shaw, a former U.S. Marine who is somewhat left in the dark about "The Machine" and its capabilities (per IMDb). As a former Intelligence Support Activity operative and assassin, she was feared for her ruthlessness which landed her in this career. Initially, she had plans to be a doctor; while she had most of the talent needed for it, her indifference over a patient's fate was a red flag for her superiors. Sameen Shaw joined the cast as a recurring character in Season 2 and then joined the main cast for the rest of the show.

Since 2021, Sarah Shahi has lent her talent to Netflix's romance-drama series "Sex/Life," which follows Shahi's character, Billie Connelly, experiencing a midlife crisis. Billie has it all; a successful job, two children, and a handsome husband, Cooper (Mike Vogel), who, on paper, has fulfilled all of Billie's ideas about love and marriage. However, Billie is now contemplating how her current lifestyle matches up to the aspirations of the wild child she once was in her youth. It also doesn't help matters when the boyfriend of her past, Brad (Adam Demos), returns into the picture and doesn't see anything wrong with a little home-wrecking.

With an upcoming second season to be released in 2023, according to What's on Netflix, audiences who enjoyed and even related to Billie's crisis will be able to watch further what she decides to do to find that elusive satisfaction she's been searching for.

In an interview with Us Weekly, Shahi discussed why she was excited to take on her character. "I found a lot about Billie that I could relate to. I'm a mother of three incredible children," she said, reflecting on Billie's newest identity as a mother. "I often found myself questioning things that Billie was questioning. Her desire for this sexual freedom and liberation, and just that sense of where did that other girl go?"

Fans of superhero action movies will recognize Sarah Shahi's latest role in DC's 2022 "Black Adam" film alongside Dwayne Johnson, who starred as the titular character.

Shahi portrays archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz, who is inadvertently responsible for waking Adam from his slumber. Figuring that he is a hero, Tomaz is surprised when members of the Justice Society, including Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), arrive to inform her that Adam is not the savior she figured, but a man who was put into this slumber as punishment for the destruction he caused. With memories of loss in his heart, Adam is content to continue destroying, much to the horror of the Justice Society.

As audiences who watched "Black Adam" know, Adam sheds his revenge-filled motives by the end of the film when he arrives to save the day by killing Sabacc (Marwan Kenzari). In an interview with Hollywood Insider, Shahi talked about the character of Black Adam and his many layers. "There's a lot of history behind every line he says ... There's a lot of pain behind his eyes, the Black Adam character." She described him as an "anti-hero superhero" since he eventually finds himself on a better path.

Shahi has held many roles of great significance since her beginning in "The Sopranos" and on "Chicago Fire" and will continue to razzle and dazzle audiences in other projects just like she did as Renée Royce.