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After growing up in Dubai, which she calls home, Shihabi acknowledges the expectations and restrictions that are often set on women, in particular. As a Dubai native living in America, though, she emphasizes her thankfulness for her background.
“In the Middle East, there are expectations of women, but there’s also a worshipping of women—maybe too much. Women are on a pedestal, and there’s this mentality that we need to ‘be careful’ and ‘take care of them.’ But you also feel like people have your back there. There’s loyalty, and it’s very family and friendship oriented,” she says. “In America, it’s such an individualistic culture. It’s very much me, myself, and I. I like being an Arab living in America because I feel like I’ve taken the things that I think are valuable and make my life rich, and my relationships [are] deep and intimate. I’m grateful that I came from where I came from and that I get to be here. It’s the best-case scenario.”
On the horizon, Shihabi has her sights set on expanding her creativity, with the goal of writing as well. She gushes with excitement and passion as she describes a particular project she is in the process of workshopping. It combines her love of both acting and dancing. But while she is very much a writer, she finds it difficult to actually declare herself as one.
“It’s funny how we limit ourselves. My writing agent recently told me, ‘You need to start calling yourself a writer.’ And I had this block—thinking, ‘I can’t. I’m an actor. I’m just experimenting with writing.’ She told me, ‘Own it.’ I thought it was one of the most generous things anyone has ever given to me because I was like, ‘Oh, wait. I can be all. I can be a dancer and an actor and a writer. And I can become a director, too! Why not? Why hold yourself back? Give yourself freedom to explore and fail also. You may be terrible at the beginning, but don’t stop yourself,” she says.
With this optimistic nature, she looks forward to her next project: Netflix’s Painkiller, co-starring Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick, which is centered on the origin of the opioid crisis. The project is slated to come out this year, and Shihabi continues to break the mold of Hollywood ingénue and redefine the role to fit her.
Archive 81 is now streaming on Netflix.
Photographer: Ryan Pfluger
Stylist: Oliver Vaughn
Hairstylist: Kat Thompson at Tomlinson Management Group
Makeup Artist: Pircilla Pae at A-Frame Agency
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