Shannon Esra ( née Esrechowitz; born 1 February 1984) is a South African actress and singer.

Early life

Early life and career beginning

Esra had her first "taste" of acting at age 4, narrating a nursery school

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

concert. She later did impersonations of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

at local talent contests. Esra had her first professional acting at the age of 16, when she appeared in the film ''

I Dreamed of Africa ''I Dreamed of Africa'' is a 2000 American biographical drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, starring Kim Basinger. It also stars Vincent Perez, Eva Marie Saint, Garrett Strommen, Liam Aiken and Daniel Craig. It is based on the autobiographical ...

'' (starring

Kim Basinger Kimila Ann Basinger ( ; born December 8, 1953) is an American actress and former fashion model. She has garnered acclaim for her work in film and television, for which she has received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Glo ...

), playing a character named Siri. She later studied

Dramatic Arts Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

receiving her BA (Hons) Degree in 2003. She won a

Naledi Theatre Award The Naledi Theatre Awards are annual South African national theatre awards held in Gauteng launched in 2004 by Dawn Lindberg Dawn Lindberg (14 April 1945 – 7 December 2020) was a South African folk singer, actress, theatre producer, dire ...

for Best Performance by a Newcomer/Breakthrough (Female), in Dorothy Ann Gould's theatre production '' Japes'' for her portrayal of ''Neets''. She also received a Fleur du Cap nomination for this role. Other stage productions included the three-woman comedy '' Six Inches'' (2018) written and directed by Kristy Suttner, as well as the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

'' Homebound'' in 2004.

Career

Television appearance

Esra made history in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

with her portrayal of ''Stephanie'' in the film Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love by being one of the first

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

actresses in a lead role. Dying her hair blonde and speaking in an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

accent, Esra' plays an American who travels to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to stop her boyfriend (played by

Kushal Punjabi Kushal Punjabi (23 April 1977 – 26 December 2019) was an Indian film and television actor. He won the TV reality game show '' Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout'', the Indian version of US game show '' Wipeout'' in February 2011, taking home the pri ...

) from marrying. After reaching India, she met Raju, a taxi driver (played by

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

) who comes to the assistance of her and she eventually falls in love with Raju. In 2005 she guest-starred alongside Eric Stoltz, playing his estranged and embittered ex-wife, in the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

's miniseries The Triangle. She also played the romantic lead ''Katie'' in

Darrell Roodt Darrell James Roodt (born in Johannesburg, 28 April 1962) is a South African people, South African film director, screenwriter and producer. He is probably most well known for his 1992 film ''Sarafina! (film), Sarafina!'' which starred actress W ...

's film about

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, Number 10. In 2005 Esra played the lead role of ''Caz O’Donough'', an undercover police officer, in the gritty

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n psychological thriller / police drama Snitch. Caz is a 20-year-old single mother, finding out that the father of her daughter, ''Lawrence Carter'', is a member of a mafia-style crime family that her "tough cop" father ''Chisel'', has been trying to bring down. She currently appears in Tim Greene's multiple South African Film & Television Award-winning newsroom drama Hard Copy, as the ambitious

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

''Kim Smollen''. Kim is a Jewish girl in her mid-20s who started as the entertainment reporter at the hard edged newspaper ''The Bulletin''. In the third season Kim is given the opportunity for "serious" reporting, at the now re-invented sleazy tabloid ''The Bullet''.

Filmography

Films

Television

Personal life

Esra lives in

Sandton Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs ...

with her parents and younger brother. She is a "closet fan" of competitive

ping-pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

competitions.

References

External links

*
Hollywood next for Shannon Esra?

"Hard Copy" Page

From Braamfontein to Bollywood and back
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esra, Shannon Living people 1984 births Actresses from Johannesburg People from Sandton South African film actresses South African television actresses South African soap opera actresses South African stage actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema South African expatriate actresses in India Expatriate actresses in the United States South African expatriates in the United States White South African people South African Jews University of the Witwatersrand alumni 21st-century South African actresses 21st-century South African women singers