From “Black-ish” to her role as Tinker Bell to political activism, here’s everything you need to know about rising star Yara Shahidi.
As an audience, it’s easy for us to feel like we’ve gotten to watch Yara Shahidi grow up, especially as she starred in “Black-ish” and then “Grown-ish.” Now, as her star continues to rise, theGrio is taking a look at some of the big things this young woman has already accomplished.
Early life
Yara Shahidi was born on Feb. 10, 2000, to Afshin and Kerry Shahidi in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Because her father was born in Iran, Farsi was her first language; she even told Harper’s Bazaar Arabia that she used to think when she was little that she had a huge family because she assumed anyone who spoke Farsi was related to her.
Shahidi grew up in a family full of talented, creative people. She and her brothers were modeling and in front of the camera at very young ages; she even landed modeling gigs as a baby. Then, when she was 9 years old, she got her big-screen break, playing Eddie Murphy’s daughter in “Imagine That.”
Famous family members
Shahidi has an incredibly talented family. Her father, Afshin Shahidi, was Prince’s photographer. Both of her younger brothers, Sayeed and Ehsan, have gone into acting on shows like “Uncle Buck,” “Switched at Birth” and even “Black-ish.” Her mother, Keri, is an actress in addition to managing her daughter early on.
Outside of her immediate family and their excellence in entertainment, Shahidi’s cousin, Anousheh Ansari, made history as the first Iranian-American astronaut and the first female private space explorer.
A big break with ‘Black-ish’
When Shahidi was 13, she auditioned for the role of Zoey Johnson in “Black-ish.” The rest, as they say, is history. The show, which follows an affluent Black family as they examine social issues and their own family culture, was a hit, not only drawing in high ratings but also addressing real-life conversations. The show didn’t shy away from talking about big topics such as police brutality and even COVID-19 over the course of eight seasons.
The spinoff: ‘Grown-ish’
“Black-ish” was such a success that it spawned the spinoffs “Mixed-ish” and “Grown-ish.” Another spinoff, “Old-ish” reportedly is in the works, and ABC is considering a spinoff called “Brown-ish.”
Shahidi continued to play Zoey as she starred in “Grown-ish,” which followed the character as she went to college and navigated life on her own. In real life, Shahidi was also going to college. She was accepted into Harvard in 2017 and graduated in 2022, taking a gap year to start and then concentrating on both social studies and African-American studies. She even got a recommendation letter on her college application from Michelle Obama.
The show is ending soon; its sixth season will be its last. Shahidi herself announced the show’s end in a YouTube video, saying that the season would be split in half. The first half will air this year, with the second half coming out in 2024.
Tinker Bell
Even though Shahidi is leaving “Grown-ish” and “Black-ish” behind, she’s still finding roles that make waves. The biggest so far is her debut as the first Black Tinker Bell in the live-action “Peter Pan & Wendy” film for Disney, which came out in April.
Considering Shahidi used to do modeling for Disney, she has described the role as “surreal.”
“I would dress up as the princesses and different characters but I was always the Black version of a character because none of them looked like me,” she told “Good Morning America.”
Of course, Shahidi received backlash for this role, just as Halle Bailey did for her role as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid.” Not only was there backlash from racists who didn’t want to see their favorite characters played by Black actresses but some derided the casting as not diverse enough. The latter contended that Black actors should be getting their own unique roles instead of rehashing old ground.
Gen Z activism
In addition to playing iconic roles, Shahidi has found her calling in activism. On the screen and off, she isn’t afraid to use her voice and her platform to draw attention to issues that matter to her.
When she was 18, she began the Eighteen x 18 initiative, hoping to reach out to young people who were eligible to vote for the first time in 2018 and get them registered. She wasn’t old enough to vote during the 2016 presidential election, and seeing the fallout from that election, she was sure she wanted to do what she could to get out the vote. She even had a voting-themed birthday party when she turned 18.
Shahidi took her activism to the world, appearing on shows such as “Oprah at the Apollo” to talk about the importance of voting, especially for young people. And in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was online, doing things like a Zoom conversation with Angela Davis about activism.
In 2021, Shahidi announced that she would be partnering with Dell XPS to bring technology to the next generation of activists. In doing so, both she and Dell collaborated with Ghetto Film School.
“That is precisely what we seek to amplify … it’s not just a platform for me to talk about what I love, but we’ve really consciously made an effort to say, ‘How do we give back?’ Not as this kind of side thing that we do, but integral to our partnership,” she told theGrio.
Just this month, Shahidi was honored at the Cam for a Cause Gala with their first Youth Empowerment Award.
Shahidi has already accomplished so much in her life. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for her next.
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