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9-year old Yara Shahidi will make her theatrical debut June 12, 2009, starring opposite Eddie Murphy, in Paramount Picture’s “Imagine THAT”. Her talent can be seen in her portrayal as Murphy’s daughter, the full-spirited character ‘Olivia.’ Olivia takes her father, an overworked businessman, on a journey through her imaginary world and shows him valuable lessons along the way. Yara was born and raised for the first four years of her life in Minnesota, before her family made the move to California for her father’s line of work. When she thinks back to what she misses most about Minnesota she will tell you, “Joon Joon, Grampie and Snow”!

Yara, whose father is an Iranian-American, is extremely proud of her Persian heritage and makes a point to share her cultural background with everyone she meets and in her free time, enjoys learning to speak Persian, while cooking with her father, traveling with her family, and conducting science experiments (she wants to build a laboratory in her garage one day). Her favorite subject in school is history, where she never tires of learning about the Renaissance.

She began her career at just 6 weeks old, working alongside her mother in commercials and print ads. Yara can be seen in campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Gap Kids, Guess Kids and Disney, to name a few. She frequently has had the opportunity to work with her mother and younger brother, Sayeed Shahidi, in various print and broadcast campaigns. They can currently be seen in the Tropicana “Squeeze” commercial and print campaigns.

She currently resides in Los Angeles with mother, father, her two younger brothers and her fish, Cleophus.