Fawzia Mirza Bio - The American Fathers Podcast

Fawzia Mirza stars in The American Fathers Podcast as Jasira Said, the charismatic journalist whose relationship with the dynasties is a constant mystery to Sheila McKinley, the main character of Episodes One, Two, and Seven.
Fawzia Mirza (from her website) 

Fawzia Mirza: The Brown Girl 

“TOP 10 CREATIVES” OF THE YEAR — Indiewire Magazine 

“RISING STAR” OF CHICAGO’S INDIE FILMMAKING SCENE — WBEZ Chicago 

“…QUIPPY, LACERATING STUFF…” — LA Times 

“…FIERY, MAGNETIC CENTRAL PERFORMANCE…” — TimeOut Chicago 

“…A PETITE BUT ATHLETIC ACTRESS WITH A SHARPLY SARDONIC EDGE & PERSONA THAT CAN SHIFT FROM BOYISH TO GLAM…” — Chicago Sun Times

I act, write & produce. I love to use performance, personal storytelling and comedy to break down stereotypes across a multiplicity of identities: race, religion, sexual orientation and gender and defy the concept of the “model minority” often portrayed in the mainstream. I’ve made web series like Kam Kardashian about the long lost lesbian Kardashian sister. I made Brown Girl Problems, a series about South Asian women who also happen to be regular people with regular problems too. 

Catch me in Afterellen’s lesbian series The Lphabet or in a lesbian-centric Buzzfeed video about seeing your Ex that’s already had over 1.2 million views. Watch out for my next comedic short film which hits film festivals in April, The First Session, starring Parvesh Cheena and Mouzam Makkar. 

Look out for these not yet released projects: Mo Welch and Danielle Owens-Reid’s web series Plus One, Lisa Donato’s short film SugarHiccup and feature films 6 Angry Women by Sridhar Reddy and PhD2 directed by Iram Parveen Bilal, based on the famous comic strip by Jorge Cham. 

You may have seen me on many Chicago stages including performing my solo show Me, My Mom and Sharmila, or in the solo show in Brahman/i, or as one of four actors to perform in the solo show White Rabbit/Red Rabbit presented by the MCA and the Chicago Humanities Festival. I’ve performed at The Goodman Theatre in both Pulitzer Prize winner, Quiara Alegria Hudes’ play, The Happiest Song Plays Last, where I originated the role of Shar and I was also an ensemble member of Christopher Shinn’s world premiere play, Teddy Ferrara. 

I’ve been on Chicago Fire and have been featured in a bunch of Indie films and web series. I’ve done educational performance work at universities and military installations performing Sex Signals, the most popular sexual violence prevention show in the world. I produced the award-winning documentary Fish out of Water, and A Message from the East. I’ve hosted fundraisers and events like Tedx Windy City in Chicago and as a pledge host for Chicago’s local PBS affiliate, WTTW and as a guest host on Vocalo’s Morning Amp with Brian Babylon and Molly Adams. I’ve spoken on panels about Media, Performance, Storytelling. 

And Chicago Magazine once named one of its ’50 Most Beautiful Chicagoans’. #Awkwardbutfun.