Summer Yasmine Bishil is an American-based actress commonly known for her role in ‘Towelhead’ as Jasira. Here is a biography of Summer Bishil detailing everything you need to know about her.
Early Life and Education
Summer Bishil was born on July 17, 1988, in Pasadena, California, USA. Bishil and her family moved to Saudi Arabia when she was only three, but two years later, they moved and settled in Bahrain, where she joined the US Department of Defense School. While there, she only spoke English and did not know much about her East Indian heritage till later.
When she was 14, Summer and her family moved back to the United States after the September 11 attacks. They first settled in San Diego in a Mormon community, and Summer attended a regular public school.
However, after a week, she had to stop attending the school because of the verbal bullying she received. This was because of the lineage of her father and the post-911 attacks that caused a lot of tension among the students in the school.
During an interview, Summer said that her return to the United States was not what she thought it would be. People insulted her and told her that her father funded terrorism. She experienced panic attacks and knew nobody wanted to be her friend, which made that first year after returning the hardest.
Shortly after, they moved to Arcadia, where she was homeschooled by her mother. Her passion for acting made her eventually assimilate into the American culture. Summer joined Citrus College in the small town of Glendora, California, to supplement her homeschooling.
Personal Life
Her father is a citizen of Saudi Arabia with an East Indian Ancestry, while her mother is an American with Caucasian and Mexican ancestry. Summer Bishil also has an English, German, and distant Dutch descent because of her maternal grandfather. She has an elder sister, Sunshine Bishil, and a brother Skylar Bishil.
Career
Actress Summer Bishil had a passion for acting since she was about four or five after she watched ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ where Kevin Kline starred. She watched many movies throughout her childhood, across all genres.
Her passion drove her to take her first acting class after returning to Los Angeles at 14 years. Her mother drove her to auditions and studios, and after nine months, she signed her initial contract with an agency and manager.
Her first role was on ‘Just for Kicks,’ a short-lived Nickelodeon television show in 2006. She later appeared on more children’s television shows like ‘Drake and Josh’ on Nickelodeon and ‘Hanna Montana’ on Disney.’
She also appeared on ‘Return to Haloweentoen,‘ an original movie from Disney, and ‘Days of Our Lives,’ an NBC daytime soap.
Her breakthrough, however, came in 2007 after she got the lead role of Jasira Maroun in ‘Towelhead,’ an Allan Ball’s film. The movie was an adaptation of a novel by Alicia Erian with the same name as the movie.
While the movie received mixed reviews from critics because of its controversial name, it propelled actress Summer Bishil to fame, with many people falling in love with her character. Her bold and quietly riveting performance made people describe her as the finest natural film actress.
One critic said that her performance was the most authentic thing in the movie, while a newspaper reporter described her as the most natural actress he had ever seen.
Despite her skyrocketing fame and praise, she did not get many roles in the following years. She instead focused her time and effort on writing ‘Pilgrim,’ a script about a Saudi Arabian lady who moved to the United States amidst the 911 attacks.
She loved writing and said she even considered becoming a journalist if her acting career did not flourish.
In 2009, she featured in Wayne Kramer’s ‘Cross Over,’ playing alongside Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd, and Ray Liotta. She got the role of an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant, Taslima Jahangir, who wrote an essay sympathizing with the 9/11 attackers, which attracted the US authorities’ attention.
Like in her first movie, she received a lot of praise for her role in ‘Cross Over,’ which saw her cast as Azula in ‘The Last Airbender,’ a 2010 film by M. Night Shyamala.
In 2011, she got a role in ‘90210,’ a television series, and later appeared in ‘Pop Star,’ a drama film. In 2013, she got a lead role in ‘Lucky 7,’ an ABC series. In late 2014, she appeared in ‘The Magicians’ as Margo Hanson. This was a drama series by Syfy, and it ran for five seasons.
Net Worth
Due to her successful acting career, Summer has managed to amass a fortune. Although nobody knows her exact salary, the networth of Summer Bishil is estimated at $1.5 million.
Facts about Summer Bishil
- She is 5’3” tall
- She was nominated for the Best Actress Spirit Award
- Variety named her among the ten actors to watch in 2007
- She was one of the youngest celebrities in a Vanity Fair cover article in 2008
FAQs
Summer was born in California but moved to Saudi Arabia at three. She and her family later moved to Bahrain and back to the United States when she was 14.
While many people search the age of Summer Bishil on the internet, more people search whether she has a partner.
In 2016, she posted a photo with an unidentified mystery man captioning ‘me and the boo.’ She, however, removed the picture and was later rumored to be married to David Murphy. Summer is, however, very private about her personal life, but rumors say she is currently single.
Summer got her first role in ‘Just for Kicks’ in 2006 at 18.
