Shabana Azeez is one of Australia’s young rising stars. She chats to Stephanie Pringle & Alison Fowler about her unique journey into acting and building up a body of work.
Shabana Azeez is an actor whose credits include TV guest roles in ABC’s The Letdown and Why Are You Like This?, and SBS’s The Hunting.  She co-won Best Female Actor at Tropfest in 2019 and has been nominated for Best Performance at Stellar Film Festival (2020), the South Australian Screen Awards (2019, 2020), and WIFT V-FEST (2021).  She made her theatre debut in RUMPUS’s production of The Wolves in 2019 and has since worked with South Australian theatre companies including State Theatre Company South Australia and ActNow Theatre.  Current projects include lead roles in Network 9’s Metrosexual and Fax Machine Films’ new independent feature Birdeater. Passionate about telling stories that push the envelope, Shabana has worked with a number of female directors, queer creatives, and culturally diverse teams of storytellers.
What We Discuss:
Her unique audition philosophy
Benefits of being a creative starting out in a smaller city
Building your body of work and creating a supportive community of like minded people
The ‘Feast or Famine’ nature of being a creative
Training at a grassroots level by getting on set as quickly as possible
Rejection
Conscious casting
Resources
Mike Jones: https://www.mikejones.tv/about
Metro Sexual: Nine Now https://www.9now.com.au/metro-sexual
Shabana Azeez Instagram: @shabazeez
Shabana Azeez: https://cpmgt.com.au/talent/shabana-azeez/
This podcast wouldn’t be possible without the generous time of our guests, our producer Pete Dillon from Fearless Collective and The Roller.
Website: www.chickenandchips.com.au
Self Taping Course: www.chickenandchips.com.au/onlinecourse
Instagram: @chickenandchips_ 
Steph Insta: @itsstephaniepringle
Al Insta: @itsalisonfowler
TikTok: @chickenandchipscasting