Yara Shahidi Talks 'Grown-ish'

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Yara Shahidi Talks ‘Grown-ish’

18-year-old activist/actress Yara Shahidi is being profiled in VOGUE for her role on “Grown-ish” and rich family history. The ABC sitcom star was covered by writer Carina Chocano about starring as Zoe Johnson in “Grown-ish”…

“A teenage girl is usually just projected upon… OK, Zoey may be angsty, and she may be rebellious, she may be on her phone a lot, but Kenya and the writers really let you see her be a leader within her family, or excel at her job. All of that was through active conversation. Figuring out, OK, how do we stay true to character and not perpetuate stereotypes about what a woman can or cannot be?”

Alessandra Sanguinetti

and her family of humanitarians that includes her father, Afshin Shahidi, who arrived in the U.S. from Iran as an eight-year-old who became a cinematographer and photographer and her mother Keri Salter Shahidi who paved her daughter’s way into commercials as an infant.

According to Yara, doing red carpets sometimes “feel trivial” for her as an activist, so she likes to think about a greater purpose.

“Like, this one will give me a platform to talk about voting. Or saying to myself, OK, well, it feels a little weird to be at the Teen Choice Awards right after Charlottesville. But then how do I use my position to shed light on what’s happening?”

Writer: Carina Chocano

Photographer: Alessandra Sanguinetti

Fashion Editor: Yohana Lebasi

More Yara in VOGUE here.