A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light
A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light
A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

14 reasons Shira Haas is a superhero on and off screen

Israeli actress Shira Haas is nominated for an Emmy Award for her role as the lead actress in hit show ‘Unorthodox.’ Photo by Flash90

By Marion Fischel, Israel21c
Published October 25, 2022

Israeli actress Shira Haas is going to play Sabra, an Israeli superhero, in the film “Captain America: New World Order.”

At just 27 years old, Haas already has gained international fame for her roles in productions including the Israeli TV series Shtisel and in the Netflix series Unorthodox.

Here are 14 fascinating facts about this fast-rising star.

1. Haas is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe. During World War II, one of her grandfathers was interned at Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi concentration camp. Haas has a very close relationship with her 86-year-old grandmother.

Shira Haas photo by Zohar Jacobson, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

2. Haas’s professional career began at age 14, when she earned herself two theatrical roles at the Cameri, Tel Aviv’s prime theater. She appeared in Shakespeare’s Richard III as well as in Joshua Sonbol’s Ghetto, while still attending the Thelma Yellin Arts High School in Givatayim, east of Tel Aviv.

3. In 2014, Haas received a surprise Facebook message from Israeli casting director Esther Kling, urging her to audition for the lead role in the Israeli film Princess. Haas took the advice, and her acting won her Best Actress at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Princess also got her noticed in the US by The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter.

4. Haas’s first international movie, in 2015, A Tale of Love and Darkness, was also a director’s premiere for Israeli American actress Natalie Portman. Haas told Ynet that she found Portman to be a role model, “impressive and humble and real.”