Ajay Kumar: Created a new article

2023-08-20T14:27:10Z

Created a new article

New page

{{short description|South African actress and singer|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Shannon Esra
| image = 
| alt = 
| caption =
| birth_name = Shannon Esrechowitz
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1984|02|01|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Johannesburg]],<ref name="iol"/> South Africa
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| nationality = South African
| alma_mater = [[University of the Witwatersrand]]
| other_names =
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}}
| years_active = 2004–present
| known_for = {{hlist|''[[Life Is Wild]]''|''[[The Queen (South African TV series)|The Queen]]''|''[[Salaam-e-Ishq]]''}}
| notable_works =
}}

'''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 at a nursery school [[Purim]] concert. She later did impersonations of [[Elvis Presley]] at local talent contests.

Esra did her first professional acting at the age of 16, when she appeared in the film ''[[I Dreamed of Africa]]'' (starring [[Kim Basinger]]), playing a character named Siri.<ref name="iol"/> She later studied [[BA(Hons)|Dramatic Arts]] at the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] receiving her [[Bachelor of Arts|BA (Hons) Degree]] in 2003.

She won a [[Naledi Theatre Award]] for Best Performance by a Newcomer/Breakthrough (Female), in [[Dorothy Ann Gould]]'s theatre production ''[[Japes (play)|Japes]]'' for her portrayal of ''Neets''. She also received a [[Fleur du Cap]] nomination for this role.

Other stage productions include the three-woman comedy ''[[Six Inches]]'' (2018) written and directed by [[Kristy Suttner]], as well as the [[cabaret]] ''[[Homebound]]'' in 2004.

==Career==

===Television appearance===

Esra made history in [[Bollywood]] with her portrayal of ''Stephanie'' in the film [[Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love]] by being one of the first [[White people|Caucasian]] actresses in a lead role.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osmtalent.com/artist/shannon-esra/|title=Shannon Esra|website=OSM Talent}}</ref><ref name="iol">{{cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/she-ro-effusive-dynamic-charming-and-wildly-passionate-shannon-esra-17487b65-4845-46d4-8f6f-627741c27849|title=SHE-RO: Effusive, dynamic, charming, and wildly passionate, Shannon Esra|website=IOL|date=August 12, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/atypicalinterview-shannon-esra-would-love-to-take-anele-mdoda-on-in-a-ping-pong-match-ea43587d-d8da-4047-88bf-dc3c0b621fb0|title=#aTypicalInterview: Shannon Esra would love to take Anele Mdoda on in a ping-pong match|website=IOL|date=September 27, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3493023&fSectionId=434&fSetId=251|title=Tonight {{!}} Hollywood next for Shannon Esra?|website=tonight.co.za|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118113900/http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3493023&fSectionId=434&fSetId=251|archive-date=18 January 2008}}</ref> Dying her hair blonde and speaking in an [[American English|American]] [[Accent (dialect)|accent]], Esra plays an American who travels to [[India]] to stop her boyfriend (played by [[Kushal Punjabi]]) from marrying. After reaching India, she met Raju, a taxi driver (played by [[Govinda (actor)|Govinda]]) who comes to her assistance 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 (United States)|Sci Fi Channel]]'s miniseries [[The Triangle (TV miniseries)|The Triangle]]. She also played the romantic lead ''Katie'' in [[Darrell Roodt]]'s film about [[Rugby Union|rugby]], [[Number 10 (2006 film)|Number 10]].

In 2005 Esra played the lead role of ''Caz O’Donough'', an undercover police officer, in the gritty [[South Africa]]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 appeared in [[Timothy Greene|Tim Greene's]] multiple South African Film & Television Award-winning newsroom drama Hard Copy, as the ambitious [[Investigative journalism|investigative journalist]] ''Kim Smollen''. Kim is a Jewish girl in her mid-20s who started working 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 (newspaper format)|tabloid]] ''The Bullet''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvsa.co.za/showinfo.asp?showid=881|title=Shannon Esra {{!}} Tvsa|website=tvsa.co.za|last=|date=}}</ref>

Between 2021 and 2023, she has starred in two seasons as Samantha Hugo in the South African crime drama series [[Lioness (South African TV series)|Lioness]].

==Filmography==

===Films===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year || Title || Role || Notes
|-
| 2000 || ''[[I Dreamed of Africa]]'' || Siri || Hollywood film
|-
| 2006 || ''[[Number 10 (film)|Number 10]]'' || Katie ||
|-
| 2007 || ''[[Salaam-e-Ishq]]'' || Stephanie || [[Bollywood]] Indian Hindi film
|-
| 2011 || ''2ND Take'' || 'Movie' Lindsey ||
|-
| 2015 || ''[[The Gamechangers]]'' || Jen Kolbe || BBC docudrama
|-
| 2021 || ''The Ground Under'' || Jessica 'Jess' Stuckman ||
|-
| 2023 || ''Do Your Worst'' || Sondra ||
|}

===Television===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year || Title || Role || Notes
|-
| 2003 || ''Yizo Yizo 3'' || Robbery Daughter ||
|-
| 2004 || ''[[Isidingo]]'' || Yvette Meyer ||
|-
| 2004 || ''[[Snitch (TV series)|Snitch]]'' || Caz O’Donough ||
|-
| 2005 || ''[[The Triangle (TV miniseries)|The Triangle]]'' || Sally || TV miniseries, [[Sci Fi Channel (United States)|Sci Fi Channel]]
|-
| 2006–2007 || ''[[Hard Copy (South Africa TV)|Hard Copy]]'' || Kim Smollen || TV series, season 2, 3
|-
| 2007–2008 || ''[[Life Is Wild]]'' || Lauren || Recurring, on The CW series
|-
| 2008 || ''[[Wild at Heart (British TV series)|Wild at Heart]]'' || Angie || Season 3
|-
| 2008 || ''The Lab'' || Samantha Mazur || Season 2
|-
| 2010 || ''[[Miss Behave (web series)|Miss Behave]]'' || Rachel ||
|-
| 2015–2017 || ''[[Isidingo]]'' || Angelique Scott ||
|-
| 2017–2021 || ''[[The Queen (South African TV series)|The Queen]]'' || Sandra Stein || Season 2 - 6
|-
| 2018–2022 || ''[[The River (South African TV series)|The River]]'' || Sandra Stein || Season 1 - 5
|-
| 2019 || ''[[The Throne (South African TV Series)|The Throne]]''|| Sandra Stein || Season 1
|-
| 2020 - 2021 || ''[[Gomora (TV series)|Gomora]]''|| Sandra Stein || Season 1 - 2
|-
| 2021 - 2022 || ''[[Legacy (South African TV series)|Legacy]]''|| Sandra Stein|| Season 1 - 2
|-
| 2020 || ''Still Breathing''|| Candice Burton ||
|-
| 2021–present || ''[[Lioness (South African TV series)|Lioness]]'' || Samatha Hugo || Main role
|-
|}

==Personal life==

Esra lives in [[Sandton, Gauteng|Sandton]] with her parents and younger brother. She is a "closet fan" of competitive [[ping-pong]] competitions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vuvuzelaonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=428&PHPSESSID=9847fc9d02fc966f317635a9bfb4f8cd|title=Vuvuzelaonline}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|1458492|Shannon Esra}}
* [http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3493023&fSectionId=434&fSetId=251 Hollywood next for Shannon Esra?]
* [http://www.tvsa.co.za/showinfo.asp?showid=881 "'''Hard Copy'''" Page]
* [http://www.vuvuzelaonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=428&PHPSESSID=9847fc9d02fc966f317635a9bfb4f8cd From Braamfontein to Bollywood and back]

{{Authority control}}

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

Shannon Esra - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article