10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Shahadi Wright Joseph

Get to know the actress who’s been cast as Young Nala in the live-action “Lion King” movie!

If Shahadi Wright Joseph wasn’t on your radar after her Hairspray Live performance, she surely is now! The 12-year-old blew everyone away with her singing and dancing skills playing Little Inez in NBC production. And now, she’ll be making her feature film debut as Young Nala in the highly-anticipated live-action Lion King movie!

If you’re still unfamiliar with Shahadi, here are 10 pieces of info that’ll help you get to know her better:

1. She starred as Madison in “School Of Rock” on Broadway:

2. She was an understudy for Tomika in the show as well:

3. Fun fact: This won’t be her first time playing Young Nala! She played the role on Broadway:

4. She’s a HUGE Hamilton fan. (Here’s an adorable video of her reacting to some of the cast following her on social media!):

5. She’s also a major Lin-Manuel Miranda fan. (Here’s a video of her SLAYING a cover of a song from Lin’s first Broadway musical, “In The Heights”):

Lin actually tweeted Shahadi and she was definitely excited about it!

6. She released a mini holiday EP last November – on which she sounds incredible, of course:

7. Shahadi likes science! #ScienceGirlsRock:

8. She was the youngest “Hairspray Live” cast member:

9. She played Jennifer Hudson’s daughter and Ephraim Sykes’ sister aka #FAMILYGOALS:

10. And, even though it goes without saying, she’s an absolute S-T-A-R:

We are so proud of you, Shahadi!