Shahadi Wright Joseph is an American dancer, singer and actor, known for starring in the American film Us (2019) and the web series Them (2021).
Wiki/Biography
Shahadi Wright Joseph was born on Friday, April 29, 2005 (age 16 years; as of 2021) and is from Brooklyn, New York, United States, and her star sign is Taurus.
Childhood photo of Shahadi Wright Joseph from her first professional photo shoot
Shahadi began dancing at the age of two at Purelements: An Evolution in Dance, a dance studio founded by her father Kevin Joseph in Brooklyn in 2006. From a young age, Shahadi studied various dance forms such as classical ballet, hip-hop, contemporary dance, jazz, and West African and Caribbean dance. During her childhood, she was an active member of the Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, a Brooklyn nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cultural performing arts.
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 3″
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Black
Family and Race
Shahadi’s father, Kevin Joseph, is the owner and operator of the dance studio “Purelements: Evolution of Dance”. Her grandmother, Sylvia Joseph, immigrated to the United States from Trinidad, near Venezuela. Shahadi inherited her beautiful voice from her grandfather, who was an opera singer.
Shahadi Wright Joseph and her father
Her mother, Dina Wright Joseph, is a professional dancer who attended the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the Martha Graham School. For the next 12 years, Dina toured the world with the Forces of Nature Dance Theater Company. After touring and many television appearances, Dina became a dance teacher and project manager for Purelements.
Shahadi Wright and her mother
Her sister’s name is Sundari Wright Joseph. Like the rest of her family, Sundari was also a professional dancer and later began to swim competitively.
Shahadi Wright Joseph and her sister
Profession
theater
Shahadi Wright Joseph entered the entertainment industry at the age of eight when she auditioned for and won the role of young Nala in the Broadway production of The Lion King (2014). The show is based on the 1994 Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film of the same name. The story follows Simba, the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, who is destined to become the king of the Pride Lands.
Shahadi Wright dresses Nala in the Broadway production of The Lion King (2014)
At the age of ten, she starred in another Broadway adaptation of the play School of Rock, which was nominated for a Tony Award in 2016. She played Madison/Matthew, a background dancer who usually danced on the drums in the play.
Shahadi Wright Joseph, School of Rock (2016)
television
In 2016, she made her television debut in the NBC special Hairspray Live!, playing the role of Little Inez Stubbs. Set in 1962 Baltimore, the film tells the story of a teenage girl named Tracy, whose dream comes true when she gets the opportunity to be on a local television show, The Corny Collins Show.
Hairspray Live! (2016)
In 2018, she starred in the 1969 American children’s educational television series Sesame Street.
Sesame Street (1969)
music
In 2016, she released her debut album, Love for the Holidays, on iTunes on Thanksgiving 2016, which contained three songs.
Shahadi Wright Joseph’s debut album, Love for the Holidays (2016)
In 2019, she released her debut single, “Skin I’m In,” which premiered exclusively through Billboard. In an interview with Billboard, she talked about her song, saying:
“Skin I’m In” is an anthem that reminds us to love ourselves on our best and worst days… Everyday challenges are inevitable, but when we choose to say, “I’m good enough,” we can rise to the occasion.
Shahadi Wright’s Skin I’m In (2019)
In 2020, she sang and wrote the song “Wallpaper”, produced by IMMPAAC. Her other musical works include the songs “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” from the film “The Lion King” (2019) and “Danger” (Young Simba & Young Nala episode).
Movie
In 2019, she rose to fame for her role in the American horror film Us, in which she played Zora Wilson, the daughter of the protagonist Adelaide Wilson. The film tells the story of a family on a beach vacation, and everything goes haywire when their double appears and starts terrorizing them. In the film, Shahadi also plays Oombre, the sadistic double of Zora Wilson’s character who wears a red jumpsuit.
Shahadi Wright Joseph in Us (2019)
The film received critical acclaim and grossed $70.25 million in its opening weekend, becoming the highest-grossing original horror film opening weekend in history. In 2020, the Hollywood Film Critics Association named Shahadi “Hollywood’s Next Generation” for her performance in Us. She was nominated for numerous awards for her breakthrough performance in the film, such as the Saturn Award (2019), the Critics’ Choice Award (2020), and the Vinyl Award (2020).
Voiceover
She voiced the role of young Nala, a lioness and love interest of the protagonist Simba, in the 2019 re-release of the American musical film The Lion King.
OTT/Network Series
In 2021, she made her digital screen debut in the American horror series Them, in which she played the role of Ruby Lee Emory, the eldest daughter of Lucky and Henry Emory. The series tells the story of a black family who moves to an all-white neighborhood in Los Angeles, and their idyllic home slowly becomes the epicenter of evil.
Shahadi Wright Joseph, They (2021)
Favorites
- Movies: The Shining (1980), The Babadook (2014), Get Out (2017), Jigsaw (2017)
- Horror movie characters: Chucky, Annabell
- Actress: Lupita Nyong’o
- Artists: Jorja Smith, Ariana Grande, Erykah Badu, Solange, Willow Smith
- Dance forms: ballet, modern dance and Western Caribbean dance
- Professional Dancer: Misty Copeland
- Food: Macaroni, Lasagna
- Fashion Icon: Billie Eilish
Facts/Trivia
- A lover of crafts, she sold her own knitted hats and scarves throughout the theater while performing in the Tony-nominated play School of Rock (2016). In an interview, she described her hobby,
I love knitting and am learning to play the ukulele.”
- She experienced racial profiling when she was accused of stealing while filming a project. In an interview, she described:
I was accused of stealing on one of my early projects and was discriminated against because it was said as a joke, so I was confused until I understood the racist connotations.”
It was later discovered that the item had been misplaced by the plaintiff, so the production released him from the project.
- In an interview with Popsugar, she revealed that when she was a teenager, she would often call her crush. She said,
At 13, I spent most of my free time making prank calls to boys I had crushes on and posting a series of bathroom mirror selfies on my MySpace page.
- When talking about the essential items for filming, she said,
My must-have on set is fresh fruit.”
- She started studying Spanish in eighth grade.
- She was included in Forbes’ 2021 30 Under 30 list in Hollywood and entertainment.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education