Yara Shahidi is a famous American actress, activist, and model. She is widely known for playing the main role of “Zoey Johnson” in an American sitcom television series “Black-ish”, which premiered in 2014. She has also played the most important and powerful roles in numerous films and series and gained recognition globally.
Early Life
Yara was born on 10th February 2000, in Minneapolis City, Minnesota, the United States to an Iranian photographer, Afshin Shahidi, and mother Keri Salter Shahidi, who holds mixed African-American ethnicity. At the age of 4, Yara shifted to California due to her father’s work. She has two siblings namely, Sayeed Shahidi, an American child actor as well as a model, and brother, Ehsan Shahidi.
Reportedly, it is known that Yara is the eldest of all. The rapper Nasir bin Qlu Dara Jones, also known as Nas, is their cousin. Yara studied at Dwight School of Manhattan via their online program and graduated in 2017. She began her collegiate studies at Harvard University in 2018 in order to major in Interdisciplinary Sociology and African American studies.
Yara Shahidi Career
Shahidi started off her career at the age of 6 by appearing in advertisements and television commercials for various brands such as Gapkids, Guess Kids, Ralph Lauren, McDonald’s, Target, Disney, and The Children’s Place. In 2009, she made her debut in the film industry by starring as “Olivia Danielson” in the comedy film “Imagine That”. She appeared as a next-door neighbor in a 2010 action thriller film “Salt”. In 2011, she did a voice-over of a little girl in the episode: “Episode VI: It’s a Trap” of an animated sitcom “Family Guy”. She portrayed “Chloe Johnson” in 23 episodes of the 2012 American sitcom “The First Family”. The show ended in 2013.
She starred in the main role of “Zoey Johnson” in the television series “Black-ish”, which premiered in 2014. She became widely famous after her outstanding role in the film. It was decided by the ABC network that Yara will play the lead role of her same character “Zoey Johnson” in the 2018 series “Grown-ish”, a spinoff of the series “Black-ish”. She starred in a teen drama film “The Sun Is Also a Star” in 2019 as “Natasha Kingsley”. Recently, she voiced the character “Melanie” in a 2020 Canadian- American computer-animated science-fiction comedy film “Fearless”, released on August 14, 2020, on Netflix. Shahidi provided her voice to the character Dr. Kendra Wilson in American-Canadian computer-animated family adventure comedy film “PAW Patrol: The Movie”.
Activism
Apart from being a successful actress and model, Shahidi is also an activist. She founded a platform named “Eighteen x 18” with a social-media news organization “NowThis” in order to encourage and motivate the generation to vote in midterm elections. She also has another organization titled “Yara’s Club”, providing online guidance through education with a desire to conclude poverty. Former first lady Michelle Obama wrote a letter to Shahidi of recommendation to Harvard University after noticing her activism.
Yara Shahidi Biography |
|
|---|---|
| Real Name | Yara Sayeh Shahidi |
| Birth Date | 10 February 2000 |
| Age (as of 2022) | 22 Years |
| Birth Place | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Actress |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Sun sign | Aquarius |
Physical Statistics |
|
 |
|
| Height | in feet inches – 5’ 3” – in Centimetres – 160 cm |
| Weight | in Kilograms – 45 kg – in Pounds – 99 lbs |
| Shoe Size | 6.5 (U.S.) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Body Type | Slim |
Family |
|
| Father | Afshin Shahidi |
| Mother | Keri-Salter Shahidi |
| Sister | – |
| Brother | Sayeed Shahidi, Ehsan Shahidi |
Qualification/Education |
|
| School | Dwight Global Online School |
| College | Harvard University |
Relationship Status |
|
 |
|
| Marital Status | Single |
| Affair | No |
| Boyfriend | None |
Personal Life
Being such a popular actress, Yara tries to keep her personal life restricted from the public. In an interview, she stated that she isn’t interested in a relationship and hasn’t dated anybody yet. It is expected that the stupendous actress is engrossed in her career.
Yara Shahidi Net Worth
The ravishing actress is getting more and more popular day by day due to her fabulous looks and personality and therefore getting more and more projects. Her source of income comes from acting and modeling. It is believed that the talented actress earns a massive sum of money and has a net worth of more than $1 million as of 2020. The young actress made her debut in her acting career at a very young age and is a successful actress and model now. She has earned a lot of fame until now and has been followed by nearly 5.5 million users on Instagram, 1000+ followings, and has posted more than 2700 posts. She is also active on other social media platforms including Twitter.
Trivia
- Yara’s mother, Keri Shahidi once stated that Yara means “Someone who is close to your heart” in the Persian language.
- Shahidi signed to model with New York’s Women Management modeling agency in the year 2016.
- In 2018, she was chosen for being one of the best-dressed women by Net-a-Porter’s fashion website.
- In order to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue magazine, Yara was ranked one of the fifteen women.
- Shahidi along with her business partner, her mother launched their production company titled 7th Sun in 2020 and signed an agreement with ABC Signature production studio to produce shows.
- Shahidi got nominated for several films, however unfortunately she didn’t win any awards until now.
