Yara Shahidi

She began her career as a child, appearing in the films Imagine That (2009), Butter (2011) and Alex Cross (2012).

Yara Shahidi
Shahidi in a 2018 interview
Born	Yara Sayeh Shahidi (2000-02-10) February 10, 2000 (age 24) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Education	Harvard University (BA)
Occupation(s)	Actress, producer
Years active	2006–present
Relatives	Sayeed Shahidi (brother) Nas (cousin)
Website	yarashahidi.com

Shahidi gained recognition for her starring role as the oldest daughter Zoey Johnson in the ABC sitcom Black-ish (2014–2022) and its spin-off series Grown-ish (2018–present). She received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Black-ish and three NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series nominations for Grown-ish. Time included her on "The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016" list. She did voice over work in the films Smallfoot (2018), Fearless (2020), PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021) and My Father's Dragon (2022).

Shahidi played her first adult lead role in the 2019 drama film, The Sun Is Also a Star. In 2023, she played Tinker Bell in the fantasy adventure film Peter Pan & Wendy, and executive produced and starred in the romantic comedy-drama film, Sitting in Bars with Cake.

Yara Sayeh Shahidi was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Keri Salter Shahidi and Afshin Shahidi, a photographer. Her mother, Keri Shahidi (born Keri Jamelda Salter), is of African American and Choctaw heritage, and her father Afshin Shahidi is Iranian. Afshin was one of the principal photographers for musician Prince, who kept a signed photo of Yara in his editing suite at Paisley Park. The Shahidi family moved to California for Afshin's work when Yara was 4 years old. She is the older sister of child actor and model Sayeed Shahidi and they have a younger brother, Ehsan. The rapper Nas is her cousin. Yara means "Someone who is close to your heart" in Persian; Shahidi is a common surname in Iran and means "witness" in Persian.

Sahidi attended Immaculate Heart Middle School and part of Immaculate Heart High School before leaving to excel in her acting career. Shahidi graduated in 2017 from Dwight Global Online School. In 2017, Shahidi was admitted to Harvard University, and she began her studies there in 2018 after taking a gap year, with a plan to major in Interdisciplinary Sociology and Black American Studies. Shahidi graduated from Harvard in 2022.

 

Early works

Shahidi began her career when she was 6 years old, appearing in television commercials and print advertisements for companies such as McDonald's, Ralph Lauren, Target, GapKids, Disney, Guess Kids and The Children's Place. She frequently worked with her mother and younger brother in various print and broadcast campaigns. Her first on-screen appearance was in an episode of HBO comedy series, Entourage in 2007. In 2009, she had a recurring role as Jessica St. Clair's character daughter in the short-lived ABC comedy series, In the Motherhood. Later that year, she guest-starred on Cold Case and Wizards of Waverly Place.

Shahidi made her big screen debut in 2009, starring opposite Eddie Murphy in Paramount Pictures comedy film Imagine That, for which she received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film. She also appeared in the action film Salt in 2010 as a next door neighbor to Angelina Jolie' character. The following year, she starred in the comedy film Butter that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and garnered mixed reviews from critics. In 2012, she appeared in the action thriller film Alex Cross opposite Tyler Perry. From 2012 to 2013, Shahidi was regular cast member in the syndicated sitcom The First Family playing the role of Chloe Johnson, the daughter of President William Johnson. In 2013, she played young Olivia Pope in the two episodes of ABC political thriller series, Scandal.

2014—2022

In 2014, Shahidi was cast as a 14-year-old Zoey Johnson, the eldest daughter of Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross' characters in the ABC comedy series Black-ish created by Kenya Barris. She won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the show' first season. She also received Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Breakthrough Role in 2016 and BET YoungStars Award at the 17th BET Awards. She left the series after three seasons but appeared as a recurring guest-star in latter seasons. ABC announced in 2017 that Shahidi would be headlining a Black-ish spinoff, titled Grown-ish, on its sister network Freeform. The series premiered on January 3, 2018, with the positive reviews from critics. For her performance, Shahidi received three NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. She left the series after five seasons, but stayed as an executive producer and recurring guest-star for its sixth and final season in 2023.

In 2016, Shahidi signed to model with New York's Women Management modeling agency, in hopes of providing a platform to see more women of color in diverse roles. Time included her on "The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016" list. She was ranked one of the best dressed women in 2018 by fashion website Net-a-Porter. She was one of fifteen women selected to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue, by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. In 2021, Shahidi debuted a sportswear collaboration with Adidas.

In 2019, Shahidi played the leading role in the teen drama film, The Sun Is Also a Star based on the young adult novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon. It was theatrically released in the United States on May 17, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $6.8 million worldwide. She co-produced Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film-winning film Hair Love (2019). She done voice over work in the films Smallfoot (2018), Fearless (2020), PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021) and My Father's Dragon (2022).

 

In 2020, Shahidi and her mother launched their production company 7th Sun and signed a deal with ABC Studios to produce shows. Their first project was Smoakland, a single-camera comedy pilot for Freeform in 2021. Later in 2021, it was announced that they develop adaptation of Cole Brown's book Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White World.

2023—present

Shahidi starred in the Apple TV+ anthology series Extrapolations that premiered on March 17, 2023. She played Tinker Bell in the fantasy adventure film Peter Pan & Wendy, a remake of Peter Pan. It premiered on Disney+ on April 28, 2023. Later in 2023, Shahidi executive produced and played the leading role in the romantic comedy-drama film Sitting in Bars with Cake alongside Odessa A'zion. The film was released on September 8, 2023, by Amazon Prime Video and received generally positive reviews from critics with Shahidi's performance as a girl struggling with her personal life whilst simultaneously fulfilling her role as a caregiver to her friend diagnosed with cancer receiving praise, though some found her to be overshadowed by A’Zion's performance. Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that Shahidi's friendship with A’Zion was, "the most authentic element of the film," adding that it, "really makes the film". She received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination for her performance.

In February 2023, Shahidi was attached to star alongside Lena Headey in the action thriller film Ballerina Overdrive.

Shahidi founded Eighteen x 18 with social news publisher NowThis, which "will be a platform to encourage [her] peers to vote for the very first time in our upcoming midterm elections." Her other organizations include Yara's Club a partnership with Young Women's Leadership Network (YWLN) of New York, which provides online mentorship in hopes to end poverty through education.

Shahidi's activism was noticed by former first lady Michelle Obama, who wrote her a letter of recommendation to Harvard University. She was also given the opportunity by Teen Vogue to interview Hillary Clinton in 2017.

In 2021, Yara Shahidi joined the Dior Stand with Women campaign.

Film

Television

• List of Iranian-Americans
• List of African Americans