‘The Pitt’ Star Comes Out as Queer

One of the stars of HBO Max’s smash hit medical drama The Pitt has come out as queer, just in time to celebrate pride month.

Supriya Ganesh, who plays Dr. Samira Mohan on the series, spoke to Variety about her experience as a queer South Asian woman navigating the world of Western cultural norms. Growing up in India, she was “very shocked” by how restrictive gender roles are in the United States and resolved not to hide anything for her public image.

“I made the decision before I started this career in earnest to be as authentic as I possibly could,” Ganesh told Variety. “If I’m not being as authentic and true to myself as I possibly can be, then what am I doing?”

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The actor announced in the article she uses she/they pronouns, as gender expression in India is a bit more complex than in the USA.

“In India you have the existence of a third gender. There is a little more fluidity in how men present themselves, women present themselves,” she said. “I feel like a lot of the times I do present as pretty femme… but there are a couple of times where I’m existing outside of that, and I don’t always totally feel like I’m fitting into what I think is a very white-conceived perception of femininity.”

She also shared that her decision was influenced by Oscar-nominated actress Lily Gladstone, star of Killers of the Flower Moon and Certain Women, who also uses she/they pronouns.

“I feel like I identify a lot more with femininity, that doesn’t mean I always fit into what is a very Western idea of it… that was why I made that decision. It also feels like a little bit of a shout-out, being like, “Hey, I’m queer. See me,’” she said. I feel like sometimes I pass really well. I also want queer brown women to look at me and know that that’s someone they can turn to and relate to.”

Currently, Ganesh is starring in the play House of India. She shared with Variety that she knows just as much as everyone else about The Pitt season 2—that it will be Dr. Langdon’s first day back and take place on the Fourth of July—but says she has plenty of “hopes and desires and dreams” of where things go, including exploring what Dr. Mohan’s personal life looks like outside of the hospital.

Season 1 of The Pitt is streaming on HBO Max now. In a welcome change from the two or three year waits we’ve all grown accustomed to, season 2 of The Pitt will be out in six months.