Shira Haas

Shira Haas was born on 11 May 1995[9] in Tel Aviv, Israel,[10][11] to a Jewish family. Her parents, both sabras, are of Polish, Hungarian, and Czech descent. Her grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, had been imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.[12] As a one year old, she moved with her parents to Hod HaSharon,[11] to the home where she spent most of her early years.[13] When she was two, Haas had been diagnosed with kidney cancer and recovered two years later after a series of severe treatments.[14]

At the age of 14, she began performing in plays at the Cameri Theater, such as Ghetto and Richard III.[15] She made her television debut as the role of Ruchami Weiss in the drama series Shtisel in 2013.[8] Haas studied theater at Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts in Givatayim,[10] before completing a short period of service in the Israeli Defense Forces.[16] While studying at Thelma Yellin, Haas was approached by a casting director by the name of Esther Kling via Facebook message in 2014.[17][11] She encouraged Haas to audition for the lead role in the film Princess (2014).[18] After getting her debut role at the age of 16, Haas was praised by The New York Times for her "truly remarkable lead performance",[19] and was admired by The Hollywood Reporter for fitting the part of a 12-year-old character with her "petite frame and baby-smooth complexion".[20] The role won her the awards for Best Actress at both the Jerusalem Film Festival[21] and the Peace & Love Festival,[22] as well as a nomination for Best Leading Actress at the Israeli Academy Awards.[23]

Haas made her first appearance in an international film when she played the role of young Fania in Natalie Portman's directorial-debut, A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015).[24] Haas also appeared alongside Jessica Chastain in Niki Caro's The Zookeeper's Wife (2017), which led to her prime time American talk show debut on The Today Show in 2016.[25][11] Haas auditioned for the role over Skype call.[16] She earned her second Israeli Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Foxtrot (2017),[26] which made the final shortlist for the 90th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[27] Haas also played the role of Leah in Garth Davis' film adaptation of Mary Magdalene (2018).[28]

Haas at the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles, 2018

By the start of 2018, Haas had made a name for herself in many prime time Israeli drama television shows: Shtisel (2013–2016), The Jeweler (2015), The Switch Principle (2016), Harem (2017) and The Conductor (2018). At the 2018 Israeli Academy Awards, Haas was nominated for both Best Leading Actress for Broken Mirrors (2018) and Best Supporting Actress for Noble Savage (2018), the latter of which she won.[29] She made the Israeli Forbes list of 30 under 30 in February 2019,[10] before appearing alongside Harvey Keitel in the second biblical film in her acting career, Esau (2019).[30]

Haas arrived in Berlin two months before the shooting of Unorthodox in order to study the Yiddish language which would be primarily spoken in the series.[31] Besides Yiddish lessons, Haas was required to shave her head and also completed both piano and singing lessons in order to prepare for the role of Esther "Esty" Shapiro, who runs away from her arranged marriage and Ultra-Orthodox community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City.[32][33] The Netflix series is based on the true life story of Deborah Feldman, who wrote an autobiography by the same name.[34] James Poniewozik of The New York Times described Haas as "a phenomenon, expressive and captivating."[35] Brigid Delaney of The Guardian described her as "mesmerising" and "outstanding," noting: "physically tiny, like a child, the viewer is immediately protective of her."[36] Sheena Scott of Forbes wrote that Haas "offers an incredible performance as Esty, full of subtlety, delicately revealing her character’s inner struggle and happiness without needing to say a word."[37] Hank Stuever of The Washington Post wrote that she "lends a grave and yet vulnerable luminescence to the role."[38]

Haas acted alongside Alena Yiv in the role of a daughter who becomes confined to a wheelchair in the Israeli film Asia (2020), which was premiered online at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[39] The role earned Haas the award for Best International Actress at the festival.[40][41] The jury wrote, "Her face is a never-ending landscape in which even the tiniest expression is heartbreaking; she’s an incredibly honest and present actress who brings depth to everything she does."[40] In late April 2020, she joined a virtual ceremony celebrating Israel’s 72nd Independence Day with other Israeli stars.[42]

Approaching the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Haas was predicted as a very likely candidate for a Best Lead Actress in a Limited Series nomination (for Unorthodox) by various publications.[43][44][45]