Interview of Shabana by Freya Bennett // photographs by Jonathan VDK
Shabana Azeez is quickly becoming one of the most exciting names to watch in film and television. Best known for her breakout role as Victoria Javadi in HBO’s Emmy winning show, The Pitt—currently filming its second season in Los Angeles—Shabana has already shown her versatility across genres and mediums. She voices the lead in the award-winning animated feature Lesbian Space Princess, fresh from screenings at Berlinale and SXSW and now making its Australian premiere at the Sydney Film Festival. Her performance in the critically acclaimed Australian feature Birdeater, tackling the subject of coercive control, earned her further recognition, alongside appearances in ABC’s In Limbo, and a host of short films and web series that balance sharp humour with deeply resonant stories. I caught up with Shabana to talk about her whirlwind year, the intensity of her characters, and what draws her to stories that spark conversation.
Hi Shabana! How are you doing, and where are we catching you today?
I’m having the loveliest time in sunny LA right now! I’m shooting season 2 of The Pitt and just had the Lesbian Space Princess directors over after our North American premiere in San Francisco. Good times, I’m so lucky.
Your portrayal of Victoria Javadi in The Pitt has been widely praised. How did you prepare for such an emotionally intense role, especially considering the real-time format of the show?
I love Victoria so dearly. She’s a ticking time bomb and a genius and a hoot! Prepping for her for season 2 is so much fun.
For season one (which is all I can talk about!) I did a lot of medical research, of course, but I also had to play catch-up to my American peers in terms of American culture. One of season one’s big themes was gun violence, which is such a pervasive part of life here. I watched so many documentaries, read interviews, went on forums, etc., to try to understand what it’s like to grow up doing active shooter drills at school. What is it like to go to a music festival with the awareness that people have died en masse at those in the past? It was so heavy. It was probably the first character I’ve ever played where I cried so much in prep and didn’t have to cry on the shoot.
In Birdeater, you tackled the complex issue of coercive control. What drew you to this role, and how did you approach portraying such a nuanced character?
I love Irene and Birdeater so, so much. It was the first time I ever played a character where I wanted to manipulate the audience; to make them feel complicit in how she’s treated. So many people see coercive control and let it happen. With Birdeater, we wanted to make our audiences rethink their inaction. We should all be actively holding our friends accountable.
The prep for Irene was quite strange and intense. I realised a few weeks into preparing that if I mentioned to people that I was working on a film about coercive control, women often had stories that they wanted to share. It became part of my small talk with strangers. Women would tell me stories of their own, or of their friends or sisters or mothers, some of whom had gotten out of their relationships, and some who were still in the thick of it. I cried with so many strangers in prep for Birdeater, I still can’t believe it. If I ever make another film about domestic abuse, I hope fewer women have stories for me.
Voicing Saira in Lesbian Space Princess marked a shift to animated comedy. How did this experience differ from your live-action roles, and what challenges did it present?
Voice acting is wild! It’s so vulnerable and naked in a way that I’ve never experienced before, in that you’re yelling and moaning and crying alone in a sound booth with your friends right outside dissecting the sounds you’re making. Nightmare fuel! Lesbian Space Princess, with its fight scenes and sex scenes and panic attacks, was a real trial by fire in the best way.
That said, the reception of the film is like no other. I’m so grateful I got to see it in theatres with live audiences. It’s so exciting to see how passionately people are engaging with it! Queer joy is so important, especially in these times.
You’ve mentioned that you didn’t follow a traditional path into acting. How has your unconventional journey influenced your approach to your craft?
My journey has been so random, but very fun. I think it helps keep me grateful. It’s hard to take anything for granted when it’s all so unlikely.
The weird path I took to get here does mean that I trip on banana peels that more experienced actors have learned to avoid, which is sometimes embarrassing! But I’m so glad to have found a community of actors and artists who are warm and kind and have my back. I don’t think anyone can do it alone, even though the industry can be so isolating. You have to make sure you’re a soft place for other artists to land.
Acting is a strange job, but like most arts practices, everything about life can inform your trajectory if you let it. Maybe I didn’t get the formal training of a drama school, but working admin jobs taught me to do boring paperwork! My arts degree prepared me to be unemployed! Rejection from drama school prepared me for rejection from casting. Maybe I don’t fully understand method acting, but I know my way around a contract. You win some you lose some. I’m proud of where I came from.
Your projects often centre complex women and bold, timely themes. What draws you to a script—and what kind of stories are you still hungry to tell?
This is such a compliment about my projects. Complex characters and timely themes are EXACTLY what I’m excited by! Every script I read I ask, ‘Why this story? Why now?’. It’s also exactly the place I make my performance choices from. I think art is juicer when everything has a purpose. It’s all about impact.
I’m not married to genre or form, I want to make psychological thrillers and comedies and indies and studio projects in a million different accents. As long as the story has a powerful impact on audiences, I’m on board.
From short films to international sets, you’ve built a beautifully varied career. What’s been surprising (or maybe hilariously unexpected) about your path so far?
Oh, this is such a lovely question!
It’s the biggest honour of my LIFE that people think I’m exactly like whichever character they’ve seen me play. I remember meeting people after Birdeater; they would gape at me if I made a joke. With Javadi, people are shocked I’m Australian. It’s fun because I do feel like every character I play changes me a little, so I am more like Irene and Javadi and Saira now than I was before. I hope I carry the best parts of them with me forever.
