Yara Shahidi knew about college, she learned from her role on Grown-ish. Well, sort of. The 21-year-old Harvard University senior has been on a nearly-parallel collegiate path as her character Zoey Johnson these past four seasons.
But she actually started “attending” Cal U prior to hitting the halls of Harvard. “Grown-ish was my first touchpoint with college life before I was sent off,” Shahidi revealed. “But I really think art started imitating life even more closely in these [more recent] seasons.
As much as I’ve grown up and I’ve been balancing a career with school, college is kind of a fake adulthood, and I’m peering over into what real life looks like with no summer breaks.” “I feel like a lot of these storylines about Zoey, trying to figure out what’s next, has been so resonant, especially now that we’re both seniors.”As a senior, Shahidi is stepping into a relative unknown, much like her character.
What lies after graduation, in her roaring 20’s remains to be seen, but the actress and soon-to-be-producer is optimistic about the road before her. “I mean, it’s definitely nerve-wracking at times,” she said of stepping off campus and into the real world. “I think what drives both me and Zoey in a way that I’m proud of is that we do have things that we’re passionate about.
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