Today we’d like to introduce you to Jehan Muhammad.
Hi Jehan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m an artist, actress, writer, rapper, poet and entrepreneur from Raleigh, North Carolina. I was born in a small rural town in North Carolina called Kinston located on the eastern region of NC near the beach. I’ve been an artist since birth, starting with painting at the age of three. I began writing poetry when I was six years old. I love music and I love to write so rapping was the only way I felt that I could unite those two passions because I don’t sing at all. I grew up in a very strict Islamic household. Both of my parents are American Sunni Muslim converts. I’ve always loved movies and television but being an actress never really crossed my mind. I auditioned for a tv show pilot in 2005 in my hometown and did a monologue from Macbeth by Shakespeare just to see where it would take me. The director called me the next day and said that he and the executive producer were blown away by my performance and wanted me to do a second audition.
A week later he called and told me that the pilot was being canceled. He never gave any specific details as to why. After that, I never had any more dealings with the film industry. Music has been my main focus and priority since I was sixteen years old. I was an independent underground hip hop artist and poet in North Carolina for ten years prior to moving to Georgia. People always look at me in disbelief when I tell them that I’ve been rapping for twenty years. I guess they can’t believe that I’m as old as I am. I’ve really been doing it for a long time, long before social media, YouTube and streaming services. I’ve owned and operated my own independent record label for the past nine years. I moved to Atlanta in 2014 by myself to help further my music career and network on a more professional level in hopes of getting some kind of deal and building a bigger and stronger team.
In 2017, I got casted to be an extra in Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ movie. A month later I suffered a very serious injury that left me on crutches and with a cast on my left arm for four months and unable to walk. I couldn’t bathe or dress myself for several months. I was so upset for missing such an amazing opportunity. Fast forward to 2021, I decided to update my profile with a casting agency that I signed up with in 2019 but had never accepted any work from. I didn’t think that I would get booked for anything since now I was wearing hijab and not showing my hair at all. Like who would let a Muslim woman appear in a major movie or on television with her hair covered? It’s never been done in America on a mainstream level. I started getting booked frequently to work as a background actress on several different productions on major networks. I was getting booked so much that I quit my full-time office job to work strictly as an actress. That’s pretty much how my acting career began.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I try to look at things with a positive mindset so I will say that it has been a smooth road. I’m just getting started so my road is still in the early stage of development. My acting career has been a much smoother road than my music career though. In one year I’ve worked on over 25 major productions alongside some of the biggest names in the film industry, legendary actors and directors that have been in the industry for 20+ years, that have been nominated and won Emmy’s, Golden Globes, etc. and I’ve appeared on major networks such as Amazon Prime, BET, Disney, Hulu, NBC, Lifetime, Netflix, Starz and Paramount Pictures just to name a few. I would’ve never in a million years thought that I would even be in the same room as these individuals, definitely not acting with them in a major film, while wearing a hijab and covering my hair.
Background actors don’t get paid nearly as much as principal actors, in Georgia we are non-union workers so if you want to pursue acting full time and you’re starting off just in the background, it’s difficult to maintain financially while also trying to juggle a 9 to 5 job. One is going to outweigh the other and you can’t really sustain off just being a background actress alone. You have to go to fittings, multiple Covid tests, etc. which can interfere with your full-time 9 to 5 job if you have one so you’re forced to make a decision and a sacrifice based off what you feel is more important and beneficial to your future. I’ve been blessed to work on several major films and tv shows and meet some really amazing people, that’s what makes you forget about the difficulties and hardships when you’re just starting off. You have so much fun working on set with famous actors that sometimes you feel like the struggle and discomfort is worth it over being miserable at a 9 to 5 job with a boss nagging you and telling you what to do all day.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I started acting to embrace a different medium of the arts and to network with other artists and like-minded people, a lot of actors also make music. I love being on set. It’s all a learning experience for me and I’m always open to learning new things. You get to see up close and personal the inner makings of a film. There are so many details and specifications that go into making a movie or tv show, things that you would never know about or notice and pay attention to unless you were behind the scenes and actually there. I closely observe the principal actors and watch them. They’re seasoned actors that have mastered their craft; they’re successful and on top for a reason. I watch their techniques, delivery and discipline, how they go in and out of character and sometimes stay in character during the whole filming process. I have a lot to learn from them. I’ve only been acting for one year. You never know who you may end up working on set with or what the scene will be about. That’s the fun part.
Being a hijab-wearing actress in the mainstream film industry has helped me stand out. Right now, I’m the only Muslim actress ever to appear on multiple major networks, the only Hijab-Wearing Actress on Disney and the only Black Muslim Actress in Hollywood. My hijab is a permanent part of my image and brand. A lot of people in the film industry know me as “the lady that wears the head wraps”. I’m usually the only Muslim actress in hijab on any production that I work on, that alone sets me apart from any other actress. Being racially ambiguous and having a unique look genetically works in my favor when it comes to acting. It allows me to embrace roles and characters of different ethnicities and cultures. So far, I’ve played Egyptian, Nigerian, South African, Moroccan, and Caribbean characters on camera. Depending on how I style my hijab I can appear African, Middle Eastern, Asian, or the Caribbean. I love playing roles that are international or foreign. People have questioned my ethnicity, nationality and race my whole life. Everyone thinks that I’m foreign, from another country and often asks me if I’m West African, Filipino, Malaysian, Indian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, Blasian (Black and Asian), mixed, Hispanic, etc. Nigerian is the one I get the most. It’s weird to me because both of my parents are Black Americans born and raised in North Carolina and I’ve always identified as being a Black woman because that’s what I am. Ironically, my first name means “The World” and “Universe” in several languages (Persian, Hindi, Arabic, Urdu, Bangla). I think I embody the meaning of it in many different ways.
Being born to two Muslim parents and having knowledge of the Islamic religion and lifestyle also sets me apart as a screenwriter because it allows me to create stories on topics that I possess expertise in and characters that I can relate to and identify with. Certain experiences, traditions, and customs that I’m aware of may be unfamiliar and taboo to many Americans unless they’ve traveled, studied Islam, or have Muslim friends or family members. I think it’s important that we are represented correctly in film. I’ve watched shows and movies where the writer was trying to be diverse and inclusive, and they showed a Muslim character doing or saying something that was completely inappropriate and incorrect. That’s why it’s imperative that Muslim writers and directors are present in Hollywood, people that are knowledgeable at telling our stories. We’re humans like everyone else. We talk about love, sex, relationships, and we laugh, dance, joke, cry and fight just like everyone else. It’s only because I grew up around a bunch of foreigners and people from all over the world in my childhood mosque that helps me relate to foreigners and people from different countries. I’m very grateful to be the woman to carry the torch, pioneer the lane and carve out this path on a mainstream level. There are several other hijab-wearing actresses in other countries, so I don’t want to take all the credit like I’m the only one to ever do it. However, the American film industry, what we know as Hollywood, is the most influential platform of all broadcasted worldwide so it’s the one that matters the most, in my opinion. It’s like you’re not legitimately famous and fully celebrated until you’ve made it in America. We’re the most influential in music, film, sports, and everything that we do. Our entertainers, actors, athletes, and musicians are recognized worldwide.
I pride myself on standing in my truth and not compromising my beliefs for any opportunities. I politely tell the wardrobe department that my head wraps are part of my costume and wardrobe requirements and that my arms and legs must always stay covered, and they never have a problem with it. They actually love it. I receive so many compliments on my head scarves from directors, crew members and other actors. I worked on a movie earlier this year and we were filming a South African scene and no one in the hair and wardrobe department knew how to wrap a head scarf so all the actresses on set were asking me if I could wrap their head scarf for them. You never know what opportunities are available for you and what’s possible until you try. The world is awaiting you to show up and tell a story that has never been told and represent for a group of people that are invisible, misrepresented, and rarely seen.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love all the ambitious creatives here in Atlanta. Almost everyone here is goal-oriented and a creative in some way or an entrepreneur. I love being around that energy, a whole city of hustlers and ambitious people focused on making things happen for themselves. That was something that I struggled with growing up in North Carolina, it was hard to find my tribe there. There weren’t too many people that were passionate about art, music and fashion like me. It’s easy to network and meet like-minded people in Atlanta. I love the blackness of Atlanta. Everywhere you go you see us and that’s a great feeling. I love being around my people especially when we’re thriving and doing major, innovative things, uplifting and supporting each other. Atlanta is way more diverse than people think. The geography here is diverse too. You can be downtown or in Midtown where it looks very urban and drive five minutes down the street and you’re somewhere that looks very rural and country with a bunch of trees, deer, and foxes. It serves as a great city to film in due to all the different scenic backdrops. I love how Atlanta has transformed into the new Hollywood. A lot of people aren’t even aware how booming the film industry is here. Almost every major film and tv series is filmed here. I don’t like how high the crime rate is here and even though it’s a Southern city I feel like the sense of Southern hospitality is non-existent. There are so many people here from New York, California and larger cities and they bring an urban vibe to Atlanta. I always felt unsafe when I first moved here. My old neighborhood in North Carolina was so quiet, safe, and peaceful that you could go to sleep with your front door unlocked.
Contact Info:
- Website: jehania.com
- Instagram: @jehania333
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jehania
Image Credits
Jehan Muhammad
