Shahadi Wright Joseph (born April 29, 2005) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her starring role in

Jordan Peele Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for his film and television work in the Comedy film, comedy and Horror film, horror genres. He has received List of awards and nominations r ...

's horror film '' Us'' (2019), the voice for Young Nala in

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau ( ; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

's musical film '' The Lion King'' (2019), , as Ruby Lee Emory in the Amazon Prime original series '' Them (TV series)'' and Holiday Anders in the podcast, "Six Minutes".

Early life

Joseph was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. She has been dancing since the age of two. She once auditioned for a school play in third grade using Lupita Nyong'o's

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

acceptance speech.

Career

Joseph's first major acting role came when she was cast as young

Nala Nala () is a legendary king of ancient Nishadha kingdom and the central protagonist of the '' Nalopakhyana'', a sub-narrative within the Indian epic '' Mahabharata'', found in its third book, '' Vana Parva'' (Book of the Forest). He is renown ...

in the Broadway musical adaptation '' The Lion King'', at nine years old. Joseph appeared as Madison, an original cast member in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation '' School of Rock''. In 2016, she appeared as Little Inez Stubbs in the NBC musical television special '' Hairspray Live!'', which earned positive reviews. In 2018, she began starring in the podcast Six Minutes. She plays the lead, Holiday. In November 2017, it was announced Joseph would reprise her role as young

in the 2019 remake of '' The Lion King'', directed by

. She chose to work on the film because she sees the character as a role model who inspires young girls. Upon learning that

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

would be voicing grown-up Nala, Joseph stated that she was motivated to work harder and consider how Beyoncé would approach the role. Also in 2019, Joseph starred in the supernatural

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

'' Us'', which was directed by

. She read for the dual role of Zora and Umbrae three times before being offered the part. The film earned critical acclaim and was a box office success. Her performance earned her numerous award nominations, including for a Saturn Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award. Joseph had a starring role as Ruby Lee Emory in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

horror drama series '' Them''. The series was released in April 2021, to generally positive reviews.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright Joseph, Shahadi 2005 births Living people 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Brooklyn African-American child actresses American child actresses American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses