Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi
Yara Sayeh Shahidi 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).
"We want this spectrum of ourselves portrayed in every physical possible spiritual, mental, emotional way that is so much more than saying I am a brown woman, or I am a black woman on TV, but saying, I am a fraction of my community"
"For me, optimism is a belief in self"
"Having to pour so much thought into basic survival doesn’t give your brain space to think about, Well, why are we living?"
"It may look like helicopter parenting, but in Black culture and Iranian culture, that interconnectedness is deeply important"
"Being Black and Iranian is something that even subconsciously plays into what I bring to a role"
"Young people rise to the occasion time and time again, especially when we’re faced with things that are of deep concern to us"
"It’s overwhelming to think about how broken some of these systems are, how imperfect some of our tools for change are"
"“It’s not about appearances or needing to seem like I’m good at everything"
"On a set, you’re a character. Everything about you is altered. In the tent, the goal is to be yourself."
"We need every voice. We need every person"
"Education has always been an integral part of my life"
"One of the biggest exercises in being curious has been the first step of self-work, of talking to myself about being bad, and allowing myself to be absolutely an amateur with no goals of being advanced at something"
