Yara Shahidi, star of black-ish, announced the Season 3 return of her own personal series grown-ish at the end of January.
Shahidi started her career doing McDonalds and Ralph Lauren commercials. But now, the young actress and activist made her name not only as an actress, but as the newest representative of youth community involvement.
In 2016, Shahidi signed with Women Management. She has also become a Gen-Z style icon, earning covers on Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Elle UK, and Porter Magazine. In 2016, Time named her one of “30 Most Influential Teens.”
A young Yara Shahidi rises in Hollywood
Beginning her acting career at age 6, Shahidi appeared in multiple big corporate commercials for Disney and Target. However, her first silver screen debut was in 2009 with Eddie Murphy in Imagine That. Her performance earned her a Young Artist Award for best performance in a feature film category.
Shahidi earned her biggest break in 2014 as 14-year-old Zoey Johnson on ABC’s black-ish. Adding to her growing collection, her performance on black-ish won her an NAACP Image Award for “Best Supporting Actress in Comedy.”
In 2017, she announced her main role in the black-ish spinoff, grown-ish. In this role, both her acting and styling have garnered even more attention in television and fashion.
The young star announced an upcoming Season 3 on grown-ish on her Twitter last month:
AND WE'RE BACK ✨See y'all in January 👀 #grownish pic.twitter.com/ahZfQJJCjR
— Yara shahidi (@YaraShahidi) December 8, 2020
Yara Shahidi: “What’s close to your heart”
Shahidi was born in Minneapolis in 2000 to an African American and Native Choctaw mother and an Iranian father. Her mother notes that Yara in Persians means “Someone who is close to your heart.”
The family moved to California when Shahidi was 4 years old so her father could pursue his career as a cinematographer and photographer. In fact, he even earned a job as Prince’s personal photographer.
While her love for the limelight may have come from her father, her passion for activism may stem from her grandfather’s involvement with the Black Panthers. Now, Shahidi devotes much of her time to the causes closest to her heart: especially feminist and STEM awareness projects.
Yara Shahidi in grown-ish
Shahidi let fans know to keep an eye out for the latest season of her current show. A spin-off of ABC’s black-ish, grown-ish follows Zoey Johnson (Yara Shahidi) as she transitions into college life and early adulthood.
Traveling through much of the drama, demands, and unexpected twists of life, Shahidi and her co-stars demonstrate the all the wonderful and challenging aspects of the Gen-Z population.
While the third season is expected to be released in the end of January, Freeform recently announced that the series was also renewed for a fourth season.
Watch Season 3 of grown-ish on Freeform.
