| Summer Bishil | |
| Birth Name: | Summer Yasmine Bishil |
| Birth Date: | 17 July 1988 |
| Birth Place: | Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Yearsactive: | 2005–present |
| Occupation: | Actress |
Summer Yasmine Bishil[1] (born July 17, 1988[2]) is an American actress. She first came to prominence starring as Jasira in the 2007 film Towelhead, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. Over the following few years, she had small roles in films and TV series like The Last Airbender (2010) and 90210 (2011) before starring in the short-lived ABC series Lucky 7 (2013). She starred as Margo Hanson on the Syfy fantasy drama series The Magicians from 2015 to 2020.
Bishil was born in Pasadena, California and is the youngest of three children. Her mother is of half-Mexican descent while her father is of Indian ancestry.[3] In 1991, when Bishil was three years old, the family moved to Saudi Arabia and then to Bahrain,[4] [5] where she and her brother attended British and American schools.
The September 11 attacks prompted her family to return to the United States. They moved to a Mormon community in San Diego where she attended a regular public high school for a week.[6] Because of the post-9/11 tension in the U.S., her schoolmates did not welcome her kindly. She stated that the return was not easy: "I hated it. I was called a whore on the first day of school, and somebody said they thought my dad funded terrorism. I just knew that nobody was ever going to want to be my friend there. I had panic attacks the first year of my life here." The family later moved to Arcadia, where her mother home schooled her. She took classes at Citrus College in Glendora, California.
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.
Bishil's breakthrough performance[7] came as the lead in Alan Ball's film, Towelhead in 2007, an adaptation of the novel of the same name. Slate critic Dana Stevens said, "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."[8] Bob Strauss, who writes for several Los Angeles newspapers, states that Bishil, "...is one of the finest natural film actresses to emerge in years."[9] Gary Goldstein in a September 12 Los Angeles Times review of the movie Towelhead, stated that, "...newcomer Summer Bishil turns in a gutsy, quietly riveting performance as Jasira."[10]
In 2009, she filmed Wayne Kramer's project, Crossing Over, starring Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd,[11] a portrayal that received some favorable notice from Associated Presss Jay Reiner.[12] She was chosen to portray Azula in M. Night Shyamalan's 2010 film The Last Airbender, and was planned to be the focus of the planned but never-produced sequel.[13]
In 2013, Bishil was cast as Samira one of the lead roles on the short-lived ABC drama Lucky 7.[14] [15] In late 2014, Bishil was cast in the role of Margo Hanson in the Syfy drama series The Magicians,[16] which ended after five seasons.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Towelhead | Jasira Maroun | ||
| 2009 | Crossing Over | Taslima Jahangir | ||
| 2010 | Mooz-lum | Iman | ||
| 2010 | Public Relations | Sara | ||
| 2010 | The Last Airbender | Azula | Cameo | |
| 2013 | Pop Star | Priscilla | ||
| 2018 | Under the Silver Lake | The Girlfriend |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Days of Our Lives | Stacey | Episode #1.10164 | |
| 2006 | Just for Kicks | Stacey | Episode: "Premiere Episode: Part 2" | |
| 2006 | Drake & Josh | Tabitha | Episode: "Josh Runs Into Oprah" | |
| 2006 | Hannah Montana | Rachel | Episode: "Good Golly, Miss Dolly" | |
| 2006 | Return to Halloweentown | Aneesa | Television film | |
| 2009 | Three Rivers | Karen Rollins | Episode: "Good Intentions" | |
| 2010 | Michelle Penner | Episode: "Young Love" | ||
| 2011 | 90210 | Leila Shirazi | 4 episodes | |
| 2013 | Lucky 7 | Samira | Main role; 8 episodes | |
| 2013 | Blast Vegas | Serena | Television film | |
| 2014 | Heba Salim | Episode: "Criminal Stories" | ||
| 2015 | iZombie | Eliza Marquette | Episode: "Flight of the Living Dead" | |
| 2015–2020 | The Magicians | Margo | Main role; 65 episodes |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Young Hollywood Awards | One to Watch | Towelhead | [17] | ||
| 2008 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Female Lead | Towelhead | [18] [19] |