Each week, journalist Benjamin Law invites public figures to confront topics often considered private, using a die to determine what questions they’ll answer. This week, the spotlight is on Shabana Azeez, the 29-year-old Australian performer best known for her role as medical student Victoria Javadi on the acclaimed HBO series The Pitt, which has garnered both Golden Globe and Emmy recognition. Azeez’s candidness, humor, and reflective insights offer a window not only into her career but also into the experiences and challenges that have shaped her.

Sex and Growing Up

Azeez speaks openly about her upbringing as a child from a migrant-background Australian household. “Oh god, completely,” she laughs when asked about the conversations on sex and relationships at home. Raised in a Muslim family but educated at a Catholic school, she noticed a mix of strict cultural expectations alongside universal adolescent experiences. “There was a lot of purity culture, shame, and heteronormativity, and a heavy focus on marriage and procreation. They were like, ‘We are not like those other people.’”

Bullying during her youth left a lasting mark. “Oh my god, no. I got bullied really badly for being ugly as a kid. There was a race-based element. People would say things like, ‘I want to get tanned, but I don’t want to be as dark as Shabana.’” Puberty brought its own challenges: a fat-phobic dimension emerged as her body changed, and suddenly the same peers who had bullied her started treating her differently. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, so you people could have been nice to me the whole time…’” This experience led her to firmly detach her self-worth from physical appearance.

Looking back, Azeez finds humor and gratitude in her upbringing. “I think I’m rrrrrreal funny. That childhood shaped me. It made me funny!” she says with a wry smile.

Money and Privilege
Financial background is another area where Azeez reflects honestly. Despite coming from a migrant background, she attended private school, lived in a spacious home, and enjoyed a comfortable life. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing privilege: “It meant I was able to take risks as an actor. I don’t think I’d be here if I hadn’t grown up financially stable.”

Her early experiences with auditioning were far from flawless. She recounts a particularly disastrous audition for Flinders University in Adelaide, compounded by crashing her car on the way. “I did the worst audition ever,” she admits. Despite this, she highlights that acting is not solely about training but requires emotional intelligence, vulnerability, and what she describes as “an almost compulsive need to embarrass yourself.”

When it comes to career choices, Azeez is deliberate about prioritizing impact over money. While she has historically taken roles below her pay grade—even unpaid work—she now chooses projects based on the story’s significance. Examples include Lesbian Space Princess, exploring queer joy; Birdeater, dealing with coercive control; and The Pitt, which shines a light on healthcare workers. “I want to do a gig because the story or impact is amazing. That’s been my guide.”

Mastering the American Accent
Azeez’s portrayal in The Pitt has earned her praise for a flawless American accent, with many Australians unaware of her nationality. Her method? “I used the Paul Meier book, Accents & Dialects for Stage and Screen. If you get the e-book, it has audio clips. Also, probably everybody can do an American accent—if you sing pop songs, you’re already doing it flawlessly. Just sing it and then bring it down to talking.” This practical approach illustrates her blend of method and natural talent.

Learning the Human Body on Set
Preparing for The Pitt involved rigorous medical immersion. Actors undergo doctor boot camps to ensure procedural accuracy, exposing them to everything from suturing to intubation. Azeez describes the tactile experiences vividly: “We have rigs where you feel the heart, and the doctors say, ‘Yep, that’s how it feels in real life.’ You’re like, ‘Wow, this is what it feels like to hold a heart…’” While she’s unfazed by most anatomical procedures, certain experiences, such as lateral canthotomies (cutting open the eye), are confronting. “Looking at a guy’s face while it’s being cut open… that’s really confronting,” she admits.

Representation Matters
Casting on The Pitt brought Azeez face-to-face with questions of representation. Initially, her character wasn’t written as South Asian, while her co-star Supriya Ganesh was. Azeez worried about “taking representation away” and about the industry’s capacity to feature more than one woman of color. “It’s healing to have two of us. To be the only woman, the only person of color… that can be isolating,” she explains. Having multiple leads of color ensures representation feels authentic rather than tokenistic, a principle she values deeply.

Embarrassment and Humor
Azeez is self-aware about how her body interacts with her surroundings. “At dinner, you can lift up my plate and see exactly where it was because there’s food all around it,” she jokes, likening it to a “food angel,” a playful twist on the classic snow angel.

Observational Superpower
Finally, Azeez identifies her greatest personal skill as keen observation. She thrives on noticing subtleties in people and situations, even if she doesn’t enjoy being the center of attention. “I’m very observant. I don’t love to be looked at, but I’m really good at paying attention.” This quality underpins her approach to acting, her interactions with co-stars, and her method of embodying complex characters with authenticity and nuance.

Conclusion
Shabana Azeez’s career, from navigating the pitfalls of adolescence and privilege to mastering her craft on an internationally acclaimed series, reflects a combination of talent, emotional intelligence, and meticulous preparation. Whether it’s perfecting an American accent, learning medical procedures for a role, or advocating for authentic representation on screen, she embodies a rare blend of technical skill, empathy, and resilience. Her journey highlights the interplay of personal experience, cultural identity, and professional dedication, offering insight not only into her acting but into the broader values she brings to her work: authenticity, impact, and an unflinching commitment to telling meaningful stories.

Through humor, honesty, and vulnerability, Azeez provides a blueprint for actors navigating both the technical demands of their craft and the broader social and cultural landscapes of the industry. Her story is a testament to how deeply personal experiences can inform artistry, shaping performances that resonate with audiences across the world.