Yara Shahidi looked stunning in a fashion forward ensemble as made her way to the Good Morning America studios Monday in New York.
The actress, 23, who wowed in gold gown at the London premiere of Peter Pan and Wendy, was there to promote her barrier breaking role as Tinkerbell the film, which debuts on Disney+ Friday April 28.
She is the first African American to take on the role.
‘It’s really surreal and full circle because I started in print ads and commercials, and some of the first things I did were Disney ads,’ she explained to hosts Michael Strahan, Linsey Davis and George Stephanopoulos.
‘I would dress up as the princesses and different characters, but I was always the Black version of a character because none of them looked like me.’
Stunning: Yara Shahidi looked stunning in a fashion forward ensemble as made her way to the Good Morning America studios Monday in New York, looking sleek in long white double breasted jacket and a midi length white fringed skirt with a thigh high slit
‘So, to be a part of not only this movie but really a movement of so many fairytales being retold to look like our world is really exciting because those are the first stories we hear growing up.”
The BET Award winner looked poised in a long white double breasted jacket and a midi length white fringed skirt with a thigh high slit.
The versatile actress wore natural looking makeup with a neutral red lip and styled her hair in multiple braids accessorized with gold beads.
Yara completed the look, showcasing her toned legs with a pair of almond toned pumps.
Another full circle moment for the talented star was the new Tinkerbell Barbie, based on Yara’s portrayal.
‘For some reason, it didn’t click that there would be a Tinkerbell doll,’ she explained. ‘So I was so surprised. I thought people were sending fan art when my team sent it to me.’
She spoke about the lasting impression the new doll could make.
‘It’s something that gets brought into the home. I love the fact that that’s what made it really real for me, when everyone was getting it for their family members,’ adding, ‘I don’t know if I’ve processed what it will be like to see people with little Tinkerbells.’
Natural beauty: The versatile actress wore natural looking makeup with a neutral red lip and styled her hair in multiple braids accessorized with gold beads. Yara completed the look, showcasing her toned legs with a pair of almond toned pumps
Full circle: Yara revealed that she began her career modeling Disney costumes, so being part of the Disney+ film Peter Pan and Wendy was a full circle moment for her
The Extrapolations actress said she had fun developing a ‘visual language’ for her magical character and turned to an African American icon for inspiration.
‘Some influences that may be surprising are Josephine Baker. A lot of her performances are things that me and the director looked at because she’s so expressive with saying no words, and that was kind of the challenge of playing Tinkerbell, because… just chiming in fairly language the whole time.’
The actress, who has embraced her own individual style, later stepped out in a corset inspired sleeveless denim top, with a pair of dark blue straight leg jeans.
She added a bolero jacket to the ensemble as she made her way through Midtown Manhattan, wearing the same sexy pumps.
The influencer shared a quick video of her outfit change on Instagram writing, ‘Quick change.’
Tinkerbell: Yara stars as Tinkerbell in the new fantasy film based. She is the first African American to take on the part
Inspiration: The actress revealed she turned to icon Josephine Baker for inspiration in creating the role. ‘She’s so expressive with saying no words, and that was kind of the challenge of playing Tinkerbell, because… just chiming in fairly language the whole time,’ she said
Doll: The actress said she was surprised when she received a Tinkerbell doll inspired by her. ‘For some reason, it didn’t click that there would be a Tinkerbell doll,’ she explained. ‘I thought people were sending fan art when my team sent it to me’
Yara’s nine years as Zoe Johnson on Black-ish and Grown-ish has come to an end.
Black-ish ended its critically praised run in 2022, and Grown-ish will wrap up with the first part of the sixth season airing over the summer, and the second part in 2024.
‘I’ve grown up with Zoe, quite literally. I started when I was 13, and now we’re 23 together,’ she contended.
In comparing her journey to that of her character she said, ‘I think the biggest thing for me was knowing it’s OK to mess up.’
‘I think she taught me to give myself space as a young person, because I feel like I carried this idea that you mess up once and you move on, and I would be really hard on myself if I was in situations where I was like, “Didn’t I learn this already? Didn’t I go through this lesson?” and I think she’s taught me to just kind of go with the flow.’
Stylish: The actress, who has embraced her own individual style, later stepped out in a corset inspired sleeveless denim top, with a pair of dark blue straight leg jeans and a bolero jacket
Grown-ish: Yara’s nine years as Zoe Johnson has come to an end. Grown-ish will wrap up with the first part of the sixth season airing over the summer, and the second part in 2024. ‘I’ve grown up with Zoe, quite literally. I started when I was 13, and now we’re 23 together’
Yara graduated from Harvard University in May 2022 with a BA.
Her studies were focused on Black political thought under a neocolonial landscape, according to Vogue.
The busy actress, who told People that 2023 is the year of ‘Yes’ explained how that particular challenged played out in her life recently.
‘I went to Coachella and then I went straight from Frank Ocean’s set to my TED talk because I just love music so much that I was like, “it’s worth the juggling of being absolutely nuts in the desert and then going off.”‘
The topic of the TED Talk was Possibility.
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