Story Created:
Jun 10, 2009 at 8:38 PM PST
Story Updated:
Jun 10, 2009 at 8:46 PM PST
She’s only seven years old, but Yara Shahidi could be the next great Greek scholar.
The English- and Farsi-speaking second-grader wants to become an historian; and thanks to her “grampie,” she especially loves Greek mythology.
“We’ve been to Rome and I got to see Perseus and stuff like that, and I’ve read about Martin Luther — not the civil rights leader, but the German philosopher who wrote the ‘95 Theses,’” she says with cherubic charm.
However, it was that kind of self-assurance that may put the reins on academia in favor of the bright lights of showbiz, as Shahidi makes her feature film debut this week with the release of “Imagine That.” In the Eddie Murphy-starring family comedy, she plays Olivia, the somewhat neglected daughter of Murphy’s Evan Danielson, a corporate financial whiz separated from their mother (Nicole Ari Parker).
Completely preoccupied with a big promotion at work, Murphy doesn’t much notice his daughter until a magical world she has created through her security blanket starts raining down stock tips courtesy of an imaginary princess and queen.
Despite her tender years, Shahidi couldn’t have been more excited to work with a comedy legend whose career blossomed long before she was born. “It was great working with Eddie,” she said while promoting the movie in Los Angeles last week. “He’s really funny and nice and you never knew what he was going to do in any of the scenes, but you knew it was going to be funny.”
She added: “I don’t watch much TV, but I saw him in ‘Dr. Doolittle,” and most of the ‘Shreks.’ My favorite is ‘Daddy Day Care.’ I got to see a glimpse of him at my the audition. I couldn’t believe it — a person I see in movies. It’s crazy.”
The daughter of an African-American actress and Iranian-American cinematographer, Shahidi was born in Minnesota and began her career at six-weeks-old, working alongside her mother in commercials and print ads. Moving to L.A. at age four, she and her younger brother Sayeed have shot numerous print and broadcast campaigns.
“The casting people looked at nearly 3,000 kids all around the country and we ended up seeing maybe a hundred,” recalled Ed Solomon, the film’s co-writer and producer. “But when Yara walked in she was just so poised. We were like, ‘That’s Olivia.’ And the character then evolved into what she brought to it.”
As for Shahidi, she never had a magic blanket but brought a familiar innocence. “I don’t have imaginary friends,” she said, “but I do have my siblings and we play games where we are different animals.”
Shahidi can currently be seen acting with her real-life brother in the ABC sitcom “In the Motherhood,” and the pair will team up again to play the children of Samuel L. Jackson in the upcoming movie, “Unthinkable.”
It seems she’s well on the way to emulating her favorite actress, Keke Palmer. “She’s cool, and stars in her own TV show and likes Michael Jackson,” Shahidi said. “Just like me.”
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