She's on one of the biggest new shows of the year, but Yara Shahidi, the teenage star of ABC's Black-ish, found time to stop by BuzzFeed LA to give us the dirt on all things Yara.
1. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
My favorite ice cream flavor has to be cookies and cream.
Any particular reason why?
Because it's Oreo cookies and ice cream. It's like the vanilla ice cream cone evolved — it's next level.
2. What's your favorite color?
Purple. And I figured out why: Purple was the color of royalty during the renaissance. I think it's some past-life stuff.
3. Who's the funniest person on the set of Black-ish?
They're all funny in their own way. Anthony [Anderson] is crazy funny — physical humor. And then Tracee [Ellis Ross] does these characters. She'll stick with a french accent for an hour straight and a whole different persona. So you can't really say who's funnier, it just depends what kind of funny you're looking for in that particular time.
4. What's your favorite subject in school?
History. I love love history. Actually, in my free time I read historical fiction novels. in second grade, my teacher asked me to chill out on the weekends.
5. Who's your favorite Disney princess?
Jasmine. A flying carpet and a pet tiger? I want a pet tiger!
6. Which celeb are you dying to meet?
Robert Downey, Jr. I'm a huge Marvel fan and he's Iron Man. I was in Cleveland when they were shooting the first Avengers [film] and I got to meet Thor — coolest moment ever. I was in the hot tub, Chris Hemsworth comes in and he decides to go swimming. And then I met Loki downstairs, rightful king of Asgard. Best moment ever. I played Samuel L. Jackson's kid [in 2010's Unthinkable] so I'm waiting to meet Iron Man.
7. If you could choose only one thing to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Chocolate. That's an easy one. I live on chocolate. My mother finds empty chocolate chip wrappers in my room — it's kind of sad. I found one in my bed one day, found one in my bookshelf.
8. What's your dream vacation?
I've always wanted to go to Greece. I love Greek mythology and I would carry a book of Greek mythology everywhere I went when I was little. I've just never gone. I need to go to Athens, I need to go to the island of Crete. So many people have said it's extremely beautiful so now I just need to go make it happen.
9. Choose one: Twitter or Instagram?
Instagram. I'm a picture person. I'm the person who posts too many pictures of sunsets and random things. I'll be like, "Oh well have you seen my hair from this angle? That angle? But you haven't seen it from this angle!"
10. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
One piece of advice I get a lot from the actors I work with they're like, "Yara, we really love who you are because you're a unique human being and just stay that way." I think one thing many people say is [the] entertainment business can change a person so just make sure you stay true to who you are and don't try to conform for any role.
11. What song do you know every single word to?
I have a lot of those.
Which one is your favorite?
One of my favorites — "It's Gonna Be Me," NSYNC. And I am also learning the lyrics to "Gone" in Spanish by NSYNC.
12. What's the weirdest dream you've ever had?
Every single dream ever. Once I dreamt that if you put your clothes on in the shower, a secret wall would come down and everyone else who also had their clothes on in the shower got to go to a secret party behind their shower wall.
What does that even mean?
I don't know! Another one, I woke up and my bunk bed was at the zoo and then a character from the Proud Family's summer vacation special [started] attacking me and I couldn't scream for help.
13. Which actor do you look up to?
I think Dana Owens for one aka Queen Latifah. Also the actors I work with. Tracee, Anthony, Laurence [Fishburne]. Laurence Fishburne — I want to become him. That sounds a little strange. But they are all awesome human beings and they've just taught me so much. I just get to sit and absorb on set and I feel like every single actor I've worked with I've had the pleasure of absorbing a little more from.
14. Besides Black-ish, what show would you love to be on?
I need USA to un-cancel White Collar so I can be on or play Olivia Benson's junior detective on Law and Order: SVU or I could play the psychopath that she analyzes who ends up getting away Scot-free because i'm just that awesome.
15. What does "black-ish" mean to you?
I'm half Iranian, half black which means I'm literally black-ish for one. But I think black-ish, put in the words of Kenya Barris, is an amalgamation of every type of culture. So I'm not just black, I'm not just Iranian. No one's just white, no one's just latino. In this day and age, we're just kind of a bit of everything. I'm used to being the preppy kid that everyone was like, "Oh you're whitewashed, oh are you really black?" Black-ish is who I am. It's my own community. It's a community that doesn't discriminate.
