By: debbie lynn elias
Who doesn’t love butter? Delicious rich decadence, butter makes everything taste better – including movies, and I’m not just talking about on top of the popcorn. Thanks to the wit and visionary eye of screenwriter Jason Micallef and director Jim Field Smith, BUTTER comes into its own as a smart, darkly witty, unpolitically correct, slick comedy set against the competitive world of butter carving. Sliding into your comedic sensibilities as easily as fried eggs in a pan swirling in a stick of melted butter, BUTTER is delicious. And while the humor is divine, as are the performances from the likes of Jennifer Garner, Alicia Silverstone, Ty Burrell, Rob Corddry, Olivia Wilde and Hugh Jackman, it is young Yara Shahidi as Destiny, a little orphaned African-American girl being adopted by white parents, Julie [Silverstone] and Ethan [Corddry], and competing against the fiercely competitive and more than obsessive Laura Pickler [Garner] for the title of Champion Butter Carver, who steals the show. Yara embraces the character of Destiny and her effect on everyone who she encounters, so as to warm the heart with sweet creamery goodness that has you craving more.
I had a chance to speak with Yara in his exclusive one-on-one interview talking not only BUTTER, but her new tv series The First Family, and was more than pleasantly surprised to find a giggling 8th grader who, while going toe-to-toe with acting veterans, is still a girl with hopes and dreams who stays grounded thanks to the love of her own family – including little brothers.
Yara, what an incredible job you did in BUTTER! You are what makes this film worth seeing. But I must ask you, did you like butter before you made this film and do you like it now that you’ve made the film?
[giggling] Well, I’d actually seen butter carving before I’d done the film, so I was aware of what it was because I went to visit the State Fair that year. They had a butter carving contest! And I really liked [butter] beforehand because I’m half Persian and I like it in my Persian meals and Thanksgiving. . . Yes! I still like butter!
In talking with Jason [Micallef] the other day, he said that a bunch of you went and actually tried to do some butter carving and YOU were the best one.
I remember [giggling laughter]! I made a truck out of butter. And a volcano. And it went terribly wrong and it just looked like a mound of butter.
As young as you are, you‘re really a veteran at this stage of the game – you’ve done lots of television, you‘ve got your series The First Family. So, how is working on your first major feature film with such a big role?
It was so cool. It was definitely a new experience and it is an adult’s film. The movie I had done before, Imagine That, was geared towards kids. But I did really enjoy this. I met so many nice people. It was so cool.
How did you get the part of Destiny? Did you go through the audition process?
I auditioned the first time and that’s where I met Mr. Jason [Micallef] and then when I came in the second time, we thought it was the same script but it ended up there was one whole new page of a monologue. So, in the car ride, I memorized that and I went in the second time. I just had a great time. And that’s when I realized that I had already known what butter carving was.
Now, back up here a minute. You had a whole new monologue thrown at you and you memorized it in the car ride?
[laughing] Well, yes!
How good a student are you in school because with a memory like that, something tells me you’re pretty good. Do you spend a lot of time doing homework or is it very fast for you?
My school program is rigorous. I’m home schooled. It is very very rigorous. I do spend quite a lot of time doing school but it makes sense. It’s challenging but I have all “A’s”, so….
Only all “A‘s”? Wow. Your memory must come in pretty handy for getting all “A‘s”.
It does. [giggling] That’s what I enjoy.
How do you balance school and acting now? You‘re taking on more and more roles as you get older.
I think of it that school always comes first because I need an education no matter what. I want to go to Oxford for college so I spend the same amount of time [as if in regular school] to JUST do school. Right now I’m taking a break just like a regular schedule school-wise.
Being home schooled, do you miss things like parties and events, or do you get to make up for that with your castmates when you have wrap parties and things like that?
I still do things with my friends at home so that’s cool which means I don’t miss too much and [with] home school, I make sure that I hang out with my friends. We’ll go to the mall and shop or see a movie.
I‘ve seen some of your tv work and I recently saw in you in Alex Cross as Tyler Perry’s daughter. I even caught you in the one episode you did of The Finder. You play such a variety of roles. How do you pick the role you want to play? How do you pick your parts?
I like a variety of characters. I think it’s an interesting challenge to be able to play various roles. I choose based on, “Does it interest me and is it something new that I haven’t done before?”
What was it about BUTTER that said to you, “Yara, you HAVE to play Destiny”?
It was an amazing script and it was something I hadn’t done. She was a serious character but there were funny parts in it. So, it’s being able to convey comedy while still being the orphan who had been left.
Do you know how good you are with your comedy timing and your deadpan delivery of lines? You are extremely good at that. With BUTTER, you nailed the timing and you held your own against Alicia Silverstone, against Jennifer Garner. You really exceeded my expectations for an actor of your age in a role like that. Does timing come naturally to you or do you have to work on that?
Oh! Thank you! I have to work on that because my timing when it comes to music or anything is not the best. [laughing] In my family, I am the worst.
So what you‘re saying is that won’t see you on Dancing with the Stars and if we do, you’ll be out the first week?
Yes. [laughing] Exactly! When it comes to comedy, I do know that I’ve got pretty good timing.
I understand you also do a little bit of martial arts.
Yes!! I’m going up for my black belt soon. I’ve spent five years doing Tang Soo Do.
What kind of discipline is that?
It’s the meditative branch of Luquan karate which is Korean.
Does the martial arts help you in maintaining discipline and focus when you’re acting?
Definitely. It’s part of my life. I’ve been doing it since I was seven so it’s definitely a huge part. Even when I’m on projects and it means I can’t go to classes for 2 months or so – I had a project for 4 months – I still practice. This is a big part of my life.
Well, we’ve got to get you on a movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme or Jet Li or Jackie Chan! You could be the girl apparent to the men.
[giggling] Yes!
Doing both tv and films, have you decided yet if you like one over the other?
No, I don’t [like one over the other]. I like tv because it’s “build your character”. My character on The First Family, she’s the smartest and best out of her family but she’s kind of embarrassed that her father’s the president. But what’s interesting about tv is that throughout the episodes you’ll have underlying characteristics but your mood may change throughout all the episodes. And I enjoy movies because you do one certain character that you adopt throughout the whole entire movie and then you walk away. But I don’t like movies over tv or tv over movies.
You’ve also done some voice work for shows like The Family Guy? How fun is voicing? I know a lot of actors love it because they can to work looking like a slob or wearing pajamas.
I DO like wearing my pajamas but I don’t remember wearing my pajamas to any of that. [laughing] I really enjoyed [voicing]. That was cool. It’s definitely a new experience because I don’t do a ton of voice-overs but doing those episodes are really cool. In one episode I played two characters so, it was being able to create two little girl characters while making them sound different so you can differentiate one from the other. I enjoy it!
Did you always want to act?
I started by doing commercials and print ads with my mommy. I want to be historian and a history professor.
What is it you like about history, of which butter carving is a part of American history?
It has to do with the fact that my grandfather really enjoys history and instead of singing lullabies to me when I was little, he would recite The Gettysburg Address. [laughing] I grew up always enjoying history. And our family has a lot of background history. I found it so interesting just to find out where you come from and how the world came to be, this whole idea of societies and how they were built.
Do you have a favorite time in history that you like to study?
I like Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia. I enjoy studies on Africa and Islam.
Then wanting to go to Oxford is a good place for you if you want to be an historian.
They have summer courses for 8th graders, so I want to see if I can attend over the summer.
That’s right. You‘re in 8th grade this year, aren’t you? Will mom let you go or does she get to go, too?
She’d let me go.
Would she come with you?
Yea. It would be either her or my other grandfather, my Paw-Paw, who said he’d come, too. It might just end up being a family trip.
You like history and you like the study of people, so what better way to spend your summer than studying your family in another country.
It’s really cool! My BaBa, which means Dad in Farsi, well – we always do one international trip [a year] and its so cool. We went to Dubai and last year we went to Paris. It was for a short amount of time but he’d take me to all the historical sites ecause he knows that’s what I want to see. On the first day we went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame and then we went to the Eiffel Tower. We saw so many cool things.
Do you have a favorite thing that you saw in Paris?
Ummm, I have to say I really enjoyed the Cathedral. I’m afraid of heights and going up in that elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower was a little scary. And the thing was, that day it was super foggy so you couldn’t see outside, just lights on the infrastructure. My father was messing around with me and was asking if the [tower] was rocking, but he was slowly moving back and forth just noticeable enough for me to realize. And I was like, “Stop it! Gotta go back! Gotta go back!”
Sounds like you have a family of practical jokers, around you!
[laughing] Yes!
What was your favorite thing in Dubai? So much of it is so new, all the touristy stuff is new, even though the area is very ancient. Did you see something there that you love?
I enjoyed the architecture of the malls and everywhere. How do I explain it? It’s futuristic and clean and amazing, but then the outside architecture, some of it is very ancient and very cool. But I also like the islands. They’re man made islands we got to go on. I came to visit my grandmother because she lives in Iran, so we decided to meet up in Dubai.
What do you have coming up? Do you have a break from schoolwork for the holidays? Will you do some more tv work? How will this work with holiday, vacation and work?
On the tv show The First Family we’re taking a quick break until after Christmas and then we’re coming back. But during Christmas break I plan to spend time with my family. I have relatives coming out to California and then I think we’re going up north to visit Chicago. . .I’ll get all the seasons.
You‘ve got an interesting cast that you work with on The First Family – Jackee Harry, Cocoa Brown, Marla Gibbs and then Ted Lange from The Love Boat is your director!
It’s so cool because all of these people have had their own shows for the longest time and they’re experts. It’s so cool watching them trying to see them. Ifm like, “Okay Yara, remember it’s time to work, not time to watch them in the middle of a scene.”
When you worked on BUTTER and now as you work on The First Family, what are some of the things that you‘ve learned by watching these real veterans? Have they given you any real advice or have you picked things up naturally from them?
Well, on BUTTER, Mr. Corddry told me that “nothing is wrong in improv”. We had one scene in the car where we just kept rolling and thinking crazy things like “what could possibly be in the lounge if I sign up for the butter contest”, and also, just to be myself, not to change so I can seem cool or anything like that. Thatfs one thing that everyone told me. And just watching them in the sense of how to build a character.
How do you approach building a character? Some actors approach building a character from internally and others like to be in costume and look at themselves in character to help build the emotion and personality. Have you progressed and found your way yet or are you navigating that?
I’m still navigating but I’m usually looking over the scripts and think of similarity that my character has in all the scenes. What’s noticeable about my character? Or the way I deliver my lines.
At the end of the day, what is the greatest gift that acting has given you so far?
It would definitely be experience. I’ve been able to work with my family, my brother – I’ve done quite a few things with my brother, my middle brother [Sayeed Shahidi], he’s on The First Family as well – and just being able to meet so many cool people. And being able to travel for work! I was in Louisiana and then we shot stuff in Denver. It’s such an amazing experience. It’s something not everyone’s able to do. I really enjoy it. It’s something I really love doing. I always have a great time. There’s not one moment where I was “I didn’t like it at all.”
That‘s so nice to hear because I have heard many times where the set experience was not that good. Before I let you go, I have to ask you about brothers. I have two brothers myself and I can‘t imagine working with them. How is it for you working with your brother?
Sayeed is usually cool. I enjoy it because he’s funny on set. We always have a fun time. It makes it feel like home.
Does he ever annoy you?
Well, he’s a younger brother, so sometimes. But it never gets in the way, never turns unto a giant fight or anything. My other little brother, however, I don’t know what it would feel like to work with him. He’s 4. He likes to do his own thing and is very independent. He’s just crazy.
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