A ROARING CAREER
Shahadi Wright Joseph voices young Nala in ‘Lion King’
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — As “The Lion King” has made its epic odyssey from animated 1993 blockbuster to Julie Taymor’s expanded stage version and now a super-realistic big screen remake, Shahadi Wright Joseph has made her own journey.
When Shahadi, now 14, was 8 years old, she woke up early on a rain-drenched morning to join 700 other applicants in an open call to cast young Nala in the longrunning Broadway hit (now in its 22nd year).
She won the role, made her Broadway debut and then a little more than two years ago, her “Lion King” journey continued when director Jon Favreau (“Iron
Man,” “The Jungle Book”) cast her as young Nala in his film. Beyonce CarterKnowles voices the adult Nala.
Shahadi, Favreau said, “was the easiest, quickest casting I’ve had. We have casting lists, as you know, for the parts. There was one person on the list for young Nala: Shahadi. So okay! Move on.”
As a child actor, Shahadi, who lives in Brooklyn with her choreographer parents and an older sister, was not allowed to do eight performances weekly.
For that reason, she explained, “There were two young Nalas. We shared a dressing room and alternated our shows. But I still had to be there for all the shows as backup.”
She remembers that first giant step as “pretty nervewracking. I had to go back five or six times and I had no idea if I was going to get it or not.
“You know? It was pretty tough. But I am really glad I auditioned because that was like the kick-start that started everything.”
After a year, she left “Lion King” to be in the original Broadway cast of “School of Rock,” another hit. Then Jordan Peele cast her opposite Elizabeth Moss and Lupita Nyong’o in his horror hit “Us.”
“That was about a year after I was cast in this ‘Lion King,’ ” said Shahadi, whose Arabic name means “Most Brilliant Protector.”
It’s been an eclectic career that began “with musical theater, of course, in grade school. I went to dance class every Saturday. It was kind of like meant for me, you know? It was just something that I knew I’ve always wanted to do.”
As for stage fright, “I never really got nervous. I was just having fun. Even in my first show, ‘The Lion King,’ I wasn’t really aware of what a big deal it was. I was just doing it.”
(“The Lion King” opens tomorrow.)