Yara Shahidi looked gorgeous in a fashionable ensemble as she headed to the Good morning America studios Monday in New York.
The actress, 23, who impressed in a gold dress at the London premiere of Peter Pan and Wendy, was there to promote her barrier-breaking role as Tinkerbell in 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 it’s come full circle because I started with 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 dressed 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 fashionable ensemble as she headed to the Good Morning America studios in New York on Monday, looking sleek in a long white double-breasted jacket and fringed mid-length white skirt with a thigh-high split
“So to be part of not just this movie, but really part of a movement of so many fairy tales being retold to look like our world is really exciting because those are the first stories we hear when we grow up.” ‘
The BET Award winner looked poised in a long white double-breasted jacket and a fringed mid-length white 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 with golden beads as accessories.
Yara completed the look by showing off her toned legs with a pair of almond colored pumps.
Another moment that came full circle for the talented star was the new Tinkerbell Barbie, based on Yara’s rendition.
“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 talked about the lasting impression the new doll could make.
“It’s something that is brought in. I like the fact that that made it real for me, while everyone got it for their relatives,” adding, “I don’t know if I’ve processed what it’s going to 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 with gold beads. Yara completed the look by showing off her toned legs with a pair of almond colored pumps
Come full circle: Yara revealed that she started her career modeling Disney costumes, so being part of the Disney+ movie Peter Pan and Wendy was a full circle moment for her
The Extrapolations actress said she enjoyed developing a “visual language” for her magical character and turned to an African-American icon for inspiration.
“Some influences that might be surprising are Josephine Baker. A lot of her performances are things that me and the director watched because she’s so expressive in not saying words, and that was a bit of a challenge playing Tinkerbell because… just use reasonable language all the time.”
The actress, who has embraced her own individual style, later stepped out in a corset-inspired sleeveless denim top, paired with 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 short video of her outfit change on Instagram, writing “Quick change.”
Tinkerbell: Yara stars as Tinkerbell in the new fantasy movie based. She is the first African American to take on the role
Inspiration: The actress revealed that she turned to icon Josephine Baker for inspiration in creating the role. “She’s so expressive by not saying words, and that was kind of the challenge of playing Tinkerbell, because… just use reasonable language all the 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 in Black-ish and Grown-ish has come to an end.
Black-ish ended its critically acclaimed run in 2022 and Grown-ish will conclude with the first part of the sixth season airing in the summer, and the second part in 2024.
“I grew up with Zoë, literally. I started when I was 13, and now we are 23 together,” she argued.
Comparing her journey to her character’s, she said, “I think the most important thing for me was knowing it’s okay to mess up.”
“I think she taught me to give myself space as a young person because I feel like I carried the idea that you messed up once and moved on, and I would be very hard on myself if I got into situations being where I was like, “Didn’t I already learn this? Didn’t I go through this lesson?” and I think she taught me to just go with the flow.”
Stylish: The actress, who has embraced her own individual style, later stepped out in a corset-inspired sleeveless denim top, paired with dark blue straight-leg jeans and a bolero jacket
Mature: Yara’s nine years as Zoe Johnson has come to an end. Grown-ish concludes with the first part of the sixth season airing in the summer, and the second part in 2024. “I literally grew up with Zoe. 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 focused on black political thought in a neocolonial landscape, according to Fashion.
The busy actress, who told People that 2023 is the year of ‘Yes’ explained how that particular challenge played out recently in her life.
“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 I thought, ‘It’s worth juggling being absolutely crazy in the desert. and then run away.”
The topic of the TED Talk was Possibility.