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Alia Shawkat

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Alia Shawkat
Shawkat in October 2011
Born
Alia Martine Shawkat

(1989-04-18) April 18, 1989 (age 35)
Riverside, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1999–present

Alia Martine Shawkat (/[invalid input: 'icon']ˈæliə ˈʃoʊkɑːt/; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Maeby Fünke in the Fox television series Arrested Development.

Personal life

Shawkat was born in Riverside, California to Dina (née Burke) and actor Tony Shawkat. She grew up in nearby Palm Springs.[1] She has two brothers.[2] Her maternal grandfather is actor Paul Burke. She is of Kurdish descent on her father's side[3] and Irish and Norwegian descent on her mother's side.

She dated Jack Antonoff from 2007 to 2010.[4] When she is not working (acting), she likes to paint; she participated in gallery shows in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Paris. She also likes to make music and sing in jazz bars.[5]

Career

Shawkat made her acting debut in both film and television in 1999. In that year, she played the daughter of the character Amir in the feature film Three Kings, in which her real-life father played a member of the Iraqi Republican Guard, and appeared as a young Sarah MacKenzie on one episode of JAG. She landed her first starring role in 2001, playing Hannah Rayburn in the television sitcom State of Grace, which aired in the United States on the cable television channel Fox Family until 2002.

As Maeby Fünke, Shawkat was a regular cast member of Arrested Development for the entire run of the show from 2003 to 2006.[6] The series received nearly universally positive reviews, with Shawkat's performance occasionally singled out for praise. Pop-culture commentator Brian M. Palmer remarked that she was "one of the brightest lights on a show populated solely by bright lights,"[7] and Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic described her as "one funny young lady."[8] In an interview with The A.V. Club in 2010, Shawkat remarked that many of her "formative moments" as an actress took place on the Arrested Development set: " [Show creator] Mitch Hurwitz was like a father figure to me. In a way, it was great to be around [the cast], because I feel that my understanding of comedy was able to grow really well during that time."[9] Shawkat, along with the rest of the main cast, are set to reprise their roles in the show's forthcoming fourth season.

Since the end of Arrested Development, Shawkat has continued to act in feature films. In 2009, she played an Arab-American teen in Cherien Dabis's film Amreeka and appeared in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It alongside Ellen Page. In 2010, she appeared in The Runaways, a biographical movie about the band of the same name, playing a fictional version of the band's bassist.

In 2009, Shawkat appeared in Whip It co-star Har Mar Superstar's music video for "Tall Boy", which also featured Eva Mendes and Eric Wareheim. In October 2009, it was announced that Shawkat, Har Mar, and fellow Whip It co-star Page would produce and write a show for HBO called Stitch N' Bitch.[9] According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show "follows two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists--of any kind."[10]

Shawkat, along with Arrested Development co-star Mae Whitman, sang guest vocals on a number of tracks from indie-punk band Fake Problems' 2010 album Real Ghosts Caught on Tape.[11]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1999 JAG Young Mac 1 Episode
Three Kings Amir's Daughter
2000 The Trial of Old Drum Dee TV film
2002 State of Grace Young Hannah Rayburn 9 Episodes
Presidio Med Tara Wegman 1 Episode
2003 Without a Trace Siobhan Arintero 1 Episode
Boomtown Denise Stein 1 Episode
2003-2006, 2013 Arrested Development Mae "Maeby" Fünke Series regular (53 Episodes)
2005 Rebound Amy
Queen of Cactus Cove Billie
Last Call with Carson Daly Herself 1 Episode
Blow Out Herself 1 Episode
2006 Veronica Mars Stacy Wells 1 Episode
Not Like Everyone Else Brandi Blackbear TV Film
Deck the Halls Madison Finch
2007 The Business Screenwriting Manicurist 2 Episodes
2008 The Bad Mother's Handbook Charlotte TV Film
Bart Got a Room Camille
Prom Wars Diana Riggs
The Starter Series Robin 3 Episodes
2009 Amreeka Salma
Whip It Pash
Arrested Development Documentary Project Herself
Made in Hollywood Herself 1 Episode
Sundance Directors Lab Herself 1 Episode
2010 The Runaways Robin
The League April 1 Episode
The Lie Seven Post-production
2011 Cedar Rapids Bree
The Oranges Vanessa
"Our Deal" Best Coast music video
2012 Damsels in Distress Madge
That's What She Said Clementine
Ruby Sparks Mabel

References

  1. ^ "Alia Shawkat – DVD – Interview". The A.V. Club.
  2. ^ "Internet Movie Database – Alia Shawkat – Biography". IMDb.
  3. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790057/bio
  4. ^ Profile at FamousHookups.com
  5. ^ Cheirif, Samantha (October 1, 2012). "Alia Shawkat Talks THE ORANGES, Cut Scenes and Alternate Ending, and Returning to ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT". Collider.com. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  6. ^ "Internet Movie Database – Alia Shawkat". IMDB.
  7. ^ "Interview with Brian M. Palmer".
  8. ^ "eFilmCritic – DVD Review: Arrested Development Season 1".
  9. ^ a b "Interview". The A.V. Club.
  10. ^ "Ellen Page, Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat, and Har Mar Superstar (!) working on HBO show". The A.V. Club.
  11. ^ Alia Shawkat reference in CD release announcement

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