Sarah Shahi opens up about why she finds her role in the DC Extended Universe's Black Adam to be essential for Middle Eastern representation. The Dwayne Johnson-led film will explore the titular antihero, who has been imprisoned for 5,000 years in Kahndaq and will eventually become the archenemy to Shazam and received his powers from the wizard of the same name. Shahi and Johnson star in the film alongside Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge, Quintessa Swindell, Pierce Brosnan, and Marwan Kenzari.
Development on a Black Adam film has languished in development hell for nearly 20 years, with New Line Cinema first entering development on a Shazam! film before turning their sights to his archenemy when Johnson and fans expressed their interest in seeing him star as the character. Initially placed on hold in 2009, work slowly got back underway as Warner Bros. began putting together its DCEU, and Johnson was confirmed as Black Adam in 2014. However, once the decision was made to split both the superhero and antihero into separate films, development became rocky as writers and directors left. Johnson became busy with other projects, though one such would introduce him to Jaume Collet-Serra and see him take the helm.
Shahi caught up with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss her work in Netflix's Sex/Life and the journey to starring in Black Adam, which she raved about getting to work with Johnson, "one of the kindest humans ever." But in looking deeper at her role in the film, the 41-year-old actress talked about one of the bigger reasons she resonated with the role and its representation. See what Shahi had to say below:
"I’m Middle Eastern; I’m Persian. And there’s not a lot of Middle Eastern representation out there, so being in a movie like this really helps make a statement for my culture and where I come from. There are other Middle Eastern actors that I know who are either getting cast in terrorist roles or they’re really being stereotyped by how they look. So I’m hoping that, on some level, Black Adam will help break open that stereotype. And hopefully, Hollywood will become more colorblind in a way, and will open itself up to more Middle Eastern actors and storylines."
As exciting as Black Adam is for fans who have waited for Johnson to leap into the comic book world, the chance for the film to offer better representation for its Middle Eastern characters and performers is a more notable element. The superhero genre is frequently becoming a more diverse field both in front of and behind the camera. The long-awaited DCEU project has that in spades, from its Spanish-American director to its Samoan star. Seeing the typically-white characters of Hawkman and Cyclone portrayed by Black actors Hodge and Swindell already marks a substantial evolution in representation on screen.
Though still not officially confirmed to occur in the film, one of the bigger points of curiosity for Shahi in Black Adam will be whether she becomes her DC Comics heroic counterpart Isis. With Shazam confirmed not to be appearing in the film, it may require a change in her origin story from 52 but would tie into the film's attempts to paint Johnson's titular hero as more of an antihero rather than an outright villain. Only time will tell when the film arrives in theaters next July.
Source: THR
