1. Yara Shahidi began her career as a child, appearing in the films Imagine That, Butter, and Alex Cross.
34 Facts About Yara Shahidi
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Yara Shahidi 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.
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Yara Shahidi did voice over work in the films Smallfoot, Fearless, PAW Patrol: The Movie, and My Father's Dragon.
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Yara Shahidi played her first adult lead role in the 2019 drama film, The Sun Is Also a Star.
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Yara Sayeh Shahidi was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Keri Salter Shahidi and Afshin Shahidi, a photographer.
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The Shahidi family moved to California for Afshin's work when Yara was 4 years old.
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Yara Shahidi is the older sister of child actor and model Sayeed Shahidi and they have a younger brother, Ehsan.
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Yara means "Someone who is close to your heart" in Persian; Shahidi is a common surname in Iran and means "martyr" in Persian.
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Yara Shahidi attended Immaculate Heart Middle School and part of Immaculate Heart High School before leaving to excel in her acting career.
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In 2017, Yara 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.
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Yara 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.
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Yara Shahidi frequently worked with her mother and younger brother in various print and broadcast campaigns.
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Yara 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.
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Yara Shahidi appeared in the action film Salt in 2010 as a next door neighbor to Angelina Jolie's character.
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From 2012 to 2013, Yara Shahidi was a regular cast member in the syndicated sitcom The First Family playing the role of Chloe Johnson, the daughter of President William Johnson.
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In 2014, Yara Shahidi was cast as a 14-year-old Zoey Johnson, the eldest daughter of Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross's characters in the ABC comedy series Black-ish created by Kenya Barris.
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Yara Shahidi won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the show's first season.
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Yara Shahidi received Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Breakthrough Role in 2016 and BET YoungStars Award at the 17th BET Awards.
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Yara Shahidi left the series after three seasons but appeared as a recurring guest-star in latter seasons.
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ABC announced in 2017 that Yara Shahidi would be headlining a Black-ish spinoff, titled Grown-ish, on its sister network Freeform.
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Yara Shahidi left the series after five seasons, but stayed as an executive producer and recurring guest-star for its sixth and final season in 2023.
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In 2016, Yara 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.
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Yara Shahidi was ranked one of the best dressed women in 2018 by fashion website Net-a-Porter.
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Yara Shahidi 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.
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In 2019, Yara 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.
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Yara Shahidi co-produced Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film-winning film Hair Love.
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Yara Shahidi has done voice over work in the films Smallfoot, Fearless, PAW Patrol: The Movie, and My Father's Dragon.
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Yara Shahidi starred in the Apple TV+ anthology series Extrapolations that premiered on March 17,2023.
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Later in 2023, Yara Shahidi executive produced and played the leading role in the romantic comedy-drama film Sitting in Bars with Cake alongside Odessa A'zion.
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Yara Shahidi received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination for her performance.
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Yara Shahidi's activism was noticed by former first lady Michelle Obama, who wrote her a letter of recommendation to Harvard University.
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Yara Shahidi was given the opportunity by Teen Vogue to interview Hillary Clinton in 2017.
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In 2021, Yara Shahidi joined the Dior Stand with Women campaign.
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In October 2023, Yara Shahidi signed an open letter for the "Artists4Ceasefire" campaign alongside other artists, urging President Joe Biden to push for a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the Gaza war.