Red, White & Royal Blue: Who Plays Amy Gupta And Why Does She Look So Familiar?
Contains spoilers for "Red, White & Royal Blue"
Secret Service agent Amy Gupta (Aneesh Sheth) is nothing if not completely loyal to the Claremont-Diaz family in Amazon's LGBTQ-themed romantic comedy "Red, White & Royal Blue." Working as a detail for Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the president's only son, she finds herself doing it all. This includes running interference for Alex's romance with Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) and doing shots and playing cards with her charge late at night. And she's definitely no shrinking lily — when what seems like a shooting occurs while both men are at a charity appearance in a hospital, she shoves Henry and Alex into a supply closet and immediately takes care of business. She's a tough cookie who nonetheless has a soft spot for her friends and is willing to do anything to help Alex find happiness. If that means manipulating another security guard into making sure both men are free to be alone together, so be it.
While Amy is one of the most prominent roles that Sheth has snagged, the actor is likely quite familiar to fans of superhero dramas and medical procedurals. Her face is definitely familiar to anyone who has a fondness for horror, comedy, or drama.
Aneesh Sheth stepped out in Outsourced
Aneesh Sheth first popped up in NBC's one-season wonder sitcom "Outsourced." Her character, Kami Sutra, is a stripper who finds herself performing at Rajiv Gidwani's (Rizwan Manji) bachelor party. Kami strikes up a relationship with Charlie Davies (Diedrich Bader) that doesn't quite get to gel before the show ended prematurely but does result in a one-night stand. Sheth told The Stanford Daily in 2011 that Kami was set to return to the series and would have recurred had the show been picked up for a second season. She also mentioned that she'd received negative feedback for appearing as a stripper in a sitcom that had received less-than-positive reviews for being stereotypical toward South Asians.
"We all have to start somehow," she explained at the time. "I didn't ever think I could work as a trans actress." She described finding her "Outsourced" role as a true blessing that went on to open doors for her in Hollywood. Her next few assignments would go on to build her resume up even further.
She broke through with Jessica Jones
That's Aneesh Sheth as Gillian, Jessica Jones' (Krysten Ritter) new assistant, in the same-titled detective drama. Gillian came aboard the series during Season 3 and became a popular member of the cast in short order. She appeared in eight of the season's 13 episodes and provides an acerbic if humorous shoulder for Jessica to lean on as she navigates her way through life without Malcolm Ducasse's (Eka Darville) help. While Gillian isn't the sweetest person in the world, she's loyal and completely efficient.
Sheth knew the character's connection would be prickly and prepared to act out those nuances. "I think there's a line in the first episode where she says I brought her on just because she does her job and she doesn't bother me," the actor told Marvel in 2019. "She makes a point where she says 'I want to keep her at arm's length, but she does a good job.' The relationship there is very much like, 'I appreciate the work she does for me, but I really don't want to get personal with her."
With her first appearance in the part, Sheth became the first trans actor to become a regular part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with this role, and Gillian, in turn, became the MCU's first trans character. She told Pink News that she relished the chance to play a different sort of trans role. "The types of roles and narratives that are available now for trans people to tell, they're getting broader ... I think it was a great opportunity to play Gillian the way that she is written and it helped me broaden my own craft," she said.
Aneesh Sheth stood out in The Walking Dead
Aneesh Sheth also pops up in "The Walking Dead" toward the end of its prodigious 11-season run. She plays newspaper editor Jan in the episode "Rogue Element" during the show's final season. She comes into conflict with Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Kelly (Angel Theory), who want the paper to pursue the recent crimes of Tyler Davis (Cameron Scott Roberts). Jan remains firmly stubborn on the topic, believing that the man acted out of mental illness versus anything untoward. She complains about Connie's inability to properly follow a story but sets her on a world-shaking path that will change life in the Commonwealth forever — a puff piece on the Commonwealth Army and Mercer (Michael James Shaw). Viewers never find out what happens to Jan after the Commonwealth is breached and partially destroyed, leaving her fate completely unresolved.
The busy actor has also put in appearances on "New Amsterdam," "The Other Two," and "Difficult People," and in the Jim Parsons-led independent feature "A Kid Named Jake" in 2018. That's quite a hefty resume for a performer whose resume is little more than a decade old. With any luck, she'll keep packing roles onto her resume in the years to come.