Yara Shahidi recently sat down with InStyle magazine to share a few fun facts about her life that we didn’t previously know. Take a look at what the ‘Black-ish’ star said about her heritage and childhood dream!
Fact #1: Yara has a bit of Viking within.
It appears that the young star is both Iranian and Viking as she tells InStyle, “We’re Choctaw Native American and African-American—our family originated in Ghana, and then there’s a portion of our family that’s the descendants of Vikings.” Wow!
Fact #2: She once had the career goal of working for the FBI.
“That was 7-year-old Yara’s plan, and then I realized I actually liked acting, so I kept auditioning.”
Fact #3: She personally knows the individual off of which her ‘Black-ish’ character is based.
“I went to school with [creator] Kenya Barris’s daughter for a year, and I didn’t know that my character was based on her going into it. It’s interesting to compare what I originally thought of Zoey with how she’s developed. All I knew is that she was sassy, technologically advanced, and went to some preppy private school.” How cool is that?
Fact #4: She gets all of her styling tips from Kerry Washington.
“I frequently wear things that are far too conservative for a teenager. I’ll roll up with saddle pants and blazers and button-down shirts and oxfords. [Washington] taught me that, as a young actress, not to change you who are or your values or morals for a role, because what’s really authentic is when someone is true to who they are.”
Fact #5: Yara is a Marvel fanatic.
“I track what Marvel’s doing all day every day. I love the X-Men trilogy, Thor, and Thor 2. It all started when I was in Cleveland and the Avengers cast was staying at the same hotel as I was. They were shooting it in Cleveland, so Chris Hemsworth just came in and went swimming when I was in the hot tub.”
Photo: InStyle
