Yara Sayeh Shahidi (born February 10, 2000)[2] is an American actress and producer. She began her career as a child, appearing in the films Imagine That (2009), Butter (2011) and Alex Cross (2012).
Yara Sayeh Shahidi was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Keri Salter Shahidi and Afshin Shahidi,[5][6] a photographer.[3][7] Her mother, Keri Shahidi (born Keri Jamelda Salter), is of African American and Choctaw heritage, and her father Afshin Shahidi is Iranian.[8] Afshin was one of the principal photographers for musician Prince, who kept a signed photo of Yara in his editing suite at Paisley Park.[9][10][11] 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.[5] The rapper Nas is her first cousin once removed.[12] Yara means "Someone who is close to your heart" in Persian;[5] Shahidi is a common surname in Iran and means "martyr" in Persian.
Shahidi 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.[13][14][15] In 2017, Shahidi was admitted to Harvard University, and she began her studies there in 2018 after taking a gap year,[16] with a plan to major in Interdisciplinary Sociology and Black American Studies.[13][17] Shahidi graduated from Harvard in 2022.[16]
Shahidi began her career when she was 6 years old,[18] 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.
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.[21]Time included her on "The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016" list.[4] She was ranked one of the best dressed women in 2018 by fashion website Net-a-Porter.[29] 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.[30] In 2021, Shahidi debuted a sportswear collaboration with Adidas.[31][32]
In 2020, Shahidi and her mother launched their production company 7th Sun and signed a deal with ABC Studios to produce shows.[34] Their first project was Smoakland, a single-camera comedy pilot for Freeform in 2021.[35] Later in 2021, it was announced that they develop adaptation of Cole Brown's book Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White World.[36]
2023–present
Shahidi starred in the Apple TV+ anthology series Extrapolations that premiered on March 17, 2023.[37] She played Tinker Bell in the fantasy adventure film Peter Pan & Wendy, a remake of Peter Pan.[38] 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.[39] The film received generally positive reviews from critics with Shahidi's performance as a law student struggling to fulfill her role as a caregiver to her friend diagnosed with cancer receiving praise, though critics generally agreed that she had been overshadowed by A’Zion.[40][41] Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that Shahidi's friendship with A’Zion was, "the most authentic element of the film".[42] She received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination for her performance.[43]
Shahidi founded Eighteen x 18 with social news publisher NowThis,[45] 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.[46][47]
^Brother Troy R. Gibson II "Yara Shahidi: A Star On The Rise". Drfunkenberry.com. October 22, 2010. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^Shams, Alex (June 3, 2016). "Yara Shahidi, the Iranian-American Star of 'Black-ish,' Is Breaking Stereotypes On & Off Screen". Muftah.org. Archived from the original on June 7, 2016. Zoey, the Johnson's eldest daughter, is played by a sixteen-year-old, Iranian-American actress. Born to an Iranian father, Afshin Shahidi, and a mother of mixed black and Native Choctaw heritage, Keri Salter, Yara Shahidi lived in Minneapolis before moving to California at a young age.
^Peoples, Landon (February 7, 2019). "From Couture To Harvard To Activism, Yara Shahidi "Undefines" Success". Refinery29.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020. ...in real life, at Harvard, where she's set to double major in Interdisciplinary Sociology and Black American Studies which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2022...
^"Yara Shahidi". Young Black Stars. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016 – via www.youngblackstars.com.
