Shira Haas took the world by storm in her powerful performance as Esther Shapiro in the Netflix original series ‘Unorthodox’. Inspired by Debora Feldman’s autobiography “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots”, the show focuses on the life of a young woman who tries to escape her ultra-orthodox Brooklyn Hasidic community.

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Haas’ performance has been hailed by critics and fans and has also earned her a much deserved 2020 Primetime Emmy nomination for the Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series or Movie. While this may be the first time some may have been exposed to Shira Haas’ work, there are a few facts about the actress which some may be surprised to hear. 

10 She Had To Master Yiddish For The Role

Since Unorthodox is a series mainly spoken in Yiddish, Haas had to master various aspects of the language in order to fulfill the role. Even though Haas was already familiar with the language, she had to learn the Satmar Jews’ variation of the Yiddish language.

Of her experience, Haas said that she had to ' sleep to Yiddish and wake up to Yiddish’ and worked for 2 months prior to production on her language skills in order to play Etsy as accurately as possible. This effort obviously paid off for Haas who received great critical acclaim for the role.

9 She And Co-Star Amit Rahav Are Good Friends

Even though their onscreen relationship was at times heartbreaking to watch, Amit Rahav who played Yanki and Shira Haas respectively are actually great friends in real life. In fact, Haas revealed that she’s known Rahav for almost 10 years and the two have been friends for just as long.

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Rahav and Haas still regularly spend time together as she posts pictures of them together on social media. The two of them even found out about the show’s 8 Emmy Nominations together. It’s nice to see that the real-life friendship the two share are translated to on-screen chemistry as they are able to film such difficult emotional scenes.

8 She Likes To Experiment With Photoshop and Collages

Just like everyone, Shira Haas has hobbies and some of those include photoshop and photo collages. Through her Instagram, Haas shows some of these off by taking professionally shot photos and turning them into photoshop collages.

Most recently, Haas shared a photo collage which she put together on her wall which she put up to help inspire her to create more.

7 Was Approached By Casting Agent Via Facebook Messenger

Before taking Hollywood by storm, Haas had plans of becoming a psychologist. However, she changed her mind and later enrolled in an art school. Sometime after that, she was approached by a casting agent via Facebook messenger for the opportunity to star in the film Princess.

In Princess, Haas played 12-year-old Adar who ends up in an abusive situation with her mother’s boyfriend. For her role, Haas won the Best Israeli Actress award at the 2014 Jerusalem Film Festival. Even though she wasn’t sure where this experience would later take her, Shira Haas was a star performer long before Hollywood knew her name.

6 She Was On The Israeli Forbes 30 Under 30 List

In 2019, Shira Haas was included in the 2019 Israeli “Forbes 30 under 30” list. At the time Haas was being praised for her performances in the Israeli series Shtisel and Broken Mirrors. The article highlights all of Haas’ 2018 achievements whilst also beginning to note her international success.

Despite this, Haas insisted that what was important to her was not whether or not she performed in Israel or internationally but rather if the roles she was being given were versatile enough. She also mentions that apart from acting she also finds directing intriguing which is something that audiences can certainly look forward to.

5 Has Starred In Other International Films

Whilst most people may recognize her for her role in Unorthodox, Haas is an accomplished artist with international roles added on her resume. In the past, she’s worked with industry legends such as Joaquin Phoenix in Mary Magdalene and Natalie Portman in A Tale Of Love And Darkness.

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She is also known for her work with Jessica Chastain in the film The ZooKeeper’s Wife. With all the success she has garnered in the past few years, audiences can be sure to catch Haas in many more future international roles.

4 Emmy Nominations

After months of predictions, it was revealed in July 2020 that Haas had in fact been nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series or Movie category. It is important to highlight that Haas is the first Israeli to ever be nominated in the category.

Unorthodox also racked up 8 Emmy nominations in total including the one for Haas. Should the show win any awards, it could be the first time a predominantly Satmar Jewish Yiddish based series would win in any television academy categories.

3 Enjoyed Having A Shaved Head After Unorthodox

One of the most iconic scenes in Unorthodox is Shira Haas’ character Etsy shaving her head as part of the newlywed Hasidic ritual. The scene itself was extremely emotional and represented a new beginning for the character.

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Haas also echoed these sentiments in an interview with Elle UK  stating that she was at first hesitant and even afraid to see her shaved head. However, she later expressed that she actually liked the feeling of rain on a bald head and was reminded that hair always grows back.

2 Her Grandfather Is A Holocaust Survivor and Grandmother A Hungarian Refugee

Speaking on the impact the show has had on her own life, Haas says that there are undeniable factors of Jewish history that have made both hers and Etsy’s lives different from others. One of those comes from her own personal connection to the holocaust.

In an interview with MTV News, Haas revealed that her grandfather was a holocaust survivor from the Auschwitz camp. She also mentioned that her grandmother was also a Hungarian refugee and the two got together in hopes of rebuilding all that had been lost by that tragedy. Haas explains how her family’s experience led her to remember that “the answer is love…. And family”.

1 She Is A Cancer Survivor

At the tender age of 2, Haas was diagnosed with kidney cancer, a disease that resulted in her spending the first few years of her life in treatment. Haas always reminisced on how her time in the hospital at 7 and 8-year-olds made her somewhat of an old soul and matured her.

Thankfully, Haas worked her way through remission some years later and is enjoying a fruitful and blossoming career in Hollywood.

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