The Untold Truth Of Shira Haas
Netflix's "Unorthodox" intrigued viewers across the world for more reasons than one. The show told the story of Esther "Esty" Shapiro and her journey from an ultra-Orthodox life to ultimate freedom in Germany, per Variety. But this inspirational character couldn't have come to life without the help of Israeli actor Shira Haas.
Although Haas may be new to the mainstream acting world, she's definitely one to watch. The actor got her big break when she was just 16 years old, and she's continued to wow people with her work ever since. In fact, Haas' audition for "Unorthodox" was so good, according to creator Anna Winger, it was a "unanimous" decision to cast her for the part of Esty. "Here comes Shira, who's just a superstar," Winger told Variety. And the creator was correct.
Haas is already a bona fide superstar who puts in massive amounts of work for her art. At a young age, this actor is a genuine talent known across the world. Keep scrolling to learn more about Shira Haas.
Shira Haas is a survivor
Shira Haas may be small, but she is most definitely mighty. Haas was diagnosed with kidney cancer when she was a toddler, and she made a full recovery after three years. The chemotherapy treatments reportedly stunted her growth. "I don't remember anything of my life before [cancer]," Haas told The Guardian. "From the age of three to six I was very sick," she revealed.
Despite the challenges she faced, she seemed to have found the silver lining in her health scare, telling the outlet, "Being ill forced me to mature early." She continued, "Of course, I wish it hadn't happened, but a part of me is thankful for what I went through. I understand pain and suffering. It shaped who I am." Haas indicated that her interests in the arts started to percolate during this time, as well.
"When I was 7 or 8, I was in a lot of ways like a 40-year-old," Haas told the Los Angeles Times, noting that her experiences with childhood cancer might be what made her "go to some deep places" as an actor.
She's a true artist
Shira Haas is a multi-faceted artist. In addition to acting, she has written her own poetry and took a liking to graphic design. "I love using Photoshop to make collages, and I've been getting back to it," she told Forward in June 2021. "I have a huge wall in my work room that I made. I'm very proud of it."
And after watching the finale of "Unorthodox," where Haas belted a beautiful ballad, it's clear that she can sing, too. "It was a big day," she told Variety about performing the scene. "I remember the first take, my voice was even shaking a little bit — in a good way. I mean, I was stressed. It was probably the scene I was most excited and nervous about."
With a voice like hers, some speculated about whether the melody was coming from Haas herself or not, but the talented star confirmed via Instagram that those were, indeed, her own pipes. "Probably one of the most emotional shooting days. And yes, it was live," she wrote in April 2020, along with a clip of the powerful scene.
The actor has learned languages for her work
Shira Haas is so dedicated to her craft, she's even learned new languages for her roles. To play Brooklyn-born and Orthodox Esty, Haas took on Yiddish. Although she says her fluency could improve, she was committed to understanding the vernacular for the part. "If you will tell me to have a conversation in Yiddish, I won't, unfortunately, know how to do it. But I will understand a lot of it," Haas revealed to Deadline. "It was really important for me, first of all, to know all my lines. But not just to know all my lines, but to know really what each word means."
To practice her speech, Haas told Deadline, she studied Yiddish poetry and worked with a "religious consultant" on set. "He really helped me so much, with my lines, and also with understanding this language," she added. "I recorded him and I recorded myself, and I wrote my lines, and I listened to it, because I wanted to be really like Esty. I wanted to be free to be the character."
But "Unorthodox" isn't the only project that required Haas to brush up on a new dialect. For her movie "Asia," where she plays a Russian immigrant in Israel, she said she had to "learn some sentences" in Russian, admitting to Forward, "It's a very difficult language. Even if I compare it to Yiddish, which I did for 'Unorthodox,' I think it's harder."
Shira Haas and her co-stars go way back
Although Shira Haas is still in the early stages of her career, she's worked alongside some incredible actors. But we'd guess her favorite co-star is "Unorthodox's" Amit Rahav, who acted opposite Haas as Esty's husband, Yanky. The two have been friends for years, and Haas actually helped Rahav prepare for his audition.
"He's a neighbor of mine and he's a really good friend of mine," Haas said of their friendship while speaking with Deadline. "We met at a party, and we immediately bonded. Amit is the funniest person alive. We always said, 'Someday, we will act together on a project,' and then it happened, 10 years later."
In a February 2021 Instagram post, Amit Rahav celebrated the double Golden Globe nominations for "Unorthodox" with photos of himself and Shira Haas auditioning for and then starring in the series. He congratulated Haas and all the cast and crew and wrote, in part, "I could have never imagined what this journey would lead to!"
Haas thinks their longtime friendship has made them even better co-stars. "I definitely feel like our relationship in real life helped us on the screen," she shared with Deadline. "We are actors — even if you give me someone that I don't know, we can make it work. But the fact that we do know each other and trust each other so much, and with a lot of things that are very sensitive when we didn't have much rehearsals, it just really helps to have such a good friend, and also an amazing actor."
How Shira Haas relates to her characters
As a Jewish woman herself, you'd imagine that Shira Haas might relate to the practicing Jews she's portrayed on screen. However, their similarities weren't apparent to Haas at first, on account of the characters' conservative lifestyles and close-knit communities within the religion.
"I've played two ultra-orthodox Jewish women, in 'Unorthodox' and 'Shtisel.' I had preconceptions and knew little of these communities," Haas told The Guardian. "I still have my criticisms, although I now see complexities, too," she added. "These women taught me to be less judgmental and more empathic. They have dreams and desires, pain and flaws, just like you."
Specific to her work on "Unorthodox," though, Haas feared that she'd struggle to relate to Esther. By putting religion aside, she realized they had a lot more in common than she thought. "I read the script, and forgot where she's from. It's a coming-of-age of story; a journey we can all relate to," she explained to The Guardian. "Growing up, I was stubborn and asked too many questions. As a child I would also sing in secret. Art and music helped us both find a voice."
She's an award-winning actor
Shira Haas has proven she's an incredible actor time and again through her outstanding work, and her peers agree. Haas has already taken home multiple awards for her art, and she's been nominated for other prestigious accolades throughout the globe.
Haas' first award won was best actress at the Jerusalem Film Festival for her work in "Princess," and she's since taken home multiple other awards for her various roles, including two Ophirs, which are the Israeli equivalent to the Oscars.
In the United States, Haas reportedly made history by becoming the first Israeli woman to be nominated in her acting category at the Emmy Awards, and she was the first Israeli television actress to be nominated for a Golden Globe, per Haaretz. Haas is truly a groundbreaking artist.
When asked about her Emmy nomination, Haas told The New York Times, "All of us put so much of us into this project, but I was not expecting to be nominated for the acting." She undoubtedly earned her historic nominations.
She's willing to do what she needs to for her roles
Shira Haas is dedicated to her art, and she's gone to great lengths to prove it. Not only did the actor learn an entirely new language and take voice and piano lessons for her role in "Unorthodox," but she also shaved her head.
Haas was prepared for her haircut, though. She explained to Elle UK that after reading the script, she knew the act was an integral piece of the story with which she made peace even before she had officially been offered the part.
The star further proved her dedication to making art during the filming for "Shtisel," where she again plays an Orthodox Jew. For the filming of its third season, the cast had to follow strict safety protocols as it was shot amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "There aren't a lot of people on set, and everyone is very careful. Definitely weird; it's definitely different. But yeah, you know, the things we do for art!" Haas told Variety.
Shira Haas has always been interested in film
Shira Haas has been acting since childhood. "I'd enrolled at an arts school on a whim, where I fell in love with acting," she told The Guardian. And her time there was fruitful. As told by Variety, Haas, while attending Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts at age 16, was approached by a casting director and asked to audition for the lead role in "Princess," which she landed.
"I turned up to the audition with no expectations. Opening the door felt like stepping into Narnia — and I've not looked back," she revealed to The Guardian.
Haas' love for film far predates her love for acting, though. While she cites "Finding Nemo" as the first movie she remembers seeing, "Leon The Professional" is the movie that sparked her interest in cinema. "That's the movie that made me go, 'Wow!' Cinema is interesting, acting is interesting,'" she told Flaunt of the career-inspiring film. We have a new appreciation for "Leon The Professional," knowing it's what brought us Shira Haas.
The women who inspire Shira Haas in her work
Much of Shira Haas' career has been shaped by powerful women in the film industry, namely Jessica Chastain and Natalie Portman, per Variety. Haas worked with Chastain in "The Zookeeper's Wife" and was directed by Portman in "A Tale of Love and Darkness." Haas is interested in writing and directing and looks to both women for inspiration.
"When I worked with Natalie Portman, I had, like, the smallest scene, but she was the director and the actress, and I was like, 'Oh great, she also directs, and also acts, and she's a woman.' It's possible!" she told Flaunt.
She added, too, that female filmmakers "always show me that it's possible, and it has always given me a kind of inspiration to work with women, not because they are more talented than men, but just because I can take example from them, as role models." Judging by Haas' career so far, anything is possible for this young actor.
Unorthodox's reception surprised Shira Haas
Shira Haas is as humble as she is talented. After her superb performance in "Unorthodox," the actor was surprised that the miniseries was met with overwhelmingly positive reception. "I always believed in the show and the role that I did, but ... you can never tell what is going to happen with the thing that you are doing" she told Beanie Feldstein in an interview for Vogue.
And the series was definitely a hit. Not only was it nominated for 35 separate awards (seven of those being nominations for Haas' performance); it earned a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Unorthodox" wasn't just a critical success, though. It proved to be incredibly meaningful to many viewers. "A lot of people wrote to me [to say] that they're going through a lot of trauma — they were thankful because the show made them deal with it and do something with it," Haas told ScreenDaily.
She has gotten roles in unique ways
Shira Haas' talent is clear to everyone who sees her perform, and it's been that way since the beginning of her career. "The first part I got came over Facebook. A well-known Israeli casting director messaged out of the blue," she told The Guardian. That casting director clearly has an eye for talent.
Her first role wasn't the last time she'd be introduced to a part in an unusual way, though. For her role in "Unorthodox," Haas' agent told her she was auditioning for an entirely different television series, according to Variety. Haas recalled learning the truth: "She told me, 'So this is not 'The Orchestra' — it's 'Unorthodox,' and it's for Netflix. It's a lead role. And they really, really loved you.'"
The "Unorthodox" team loved Haas so much they didn't offer Netflix executives any other options for the role of Esther Shapiro. Shira Haas was meant to play that role.
Shira Haas already has a large net worth
Over the years of her career, Shira Haas has accumulated many professional acting credits, both in film and television. She's worked with Hollywood superstars and has proven she's one in her own right. But accolades and roles aren't all the actor has earned — Shira Haas has built an impressive estimated net worth of $550,000.
People are taking notice. Haas was part of the 2021 edition of the Forbes "30 Under 30 – Hollywood and Entertainment" list, and was named in the 2021 list for TIME100 Next.
Her TIME profile was written by Deborah Feldman, author of "Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots," the memoir on which "Unorthodox" was based. Feldman praised Haas for her ability to "[bring] an intensity to the screen that's incredibly convincing, no matter how far-fetched or strange a narrative can seem." With such talent, we're sure Haas will continue to wow us on the screen.