Summer Yasmine Bishil is an American actress. She first came to prominence for her role as Jasira in the 2007 film "Towelhead". She was chosen to portray Azula in the sequel to M. Night Shyamalan's film "The Last Airbender".
Background
Bishil was born in Pasadena, California and is the youngest of three children. Her mother is an European American, and her father is a Saudi Arabian national of Indian heritage. In 1991, when Bishil was three years old, the family moved to Saudi Arabia, later relocating to Bahrain, where she and her older brother attended Bahrain School.
The family returned to California in 2002, where she completed an independent study program for high school. She stated that the return was not easy: "I initially had some tough times trying to assimilate. It really makes you think about who you are and where you’re at.”
Education
She together with her older brother attended Bahrain School in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia.
Career
Bishil started acting lessons at age 14. Within a year, she was signed to a contract with a manager and agency. Bishil's first role was on the short-lived Nickelodeon television show Just for Kicks, followed by appearances in several other children's shows before her break-through performance as the lead in Alan Ball's film, "Towelhead" in 2006, an adaptation of the novel of the same name.
Slate critic Dana Stevens said that "Her performance is the truest thing in a movie that, for all its good intentions, feels thoroughly phony and mildly embarrassing, like an extended PSA about inappropriate touching." Bob Strauss, who writes for several Los Angeles newspapers, states that Bishil, "...is one of the finest natural film actresses to emerge in years." Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times in a September 12 review of the movie "Towelhead", stated that, "...newcomer Summer Bishil turns in a gutsy, quietly riveting performance as Jasira."
In 2007, she filmed Wayne Kramer's project, "Crossing Over", starring Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd.