An interview with Shavani Cameron, who plays Ushna Khaleel

8 August 2017

Tell us about Ushna

Ushna is a young girl from London who lives in a very strict Muslim family. Her father has spoilt her a little bit but he’s spoilt her within barriers. She does have what looks like from the outside quite a bit of freedom but she’s been placed in these barriers of “you can go out, you can do this but you know you have to be straight back after school, back home.” So as a result of these barriers, Ushna finds herself on a lot of social media websites and I guess she finds a form of identity and belonging within her faith. And then she feels that to complete her faith she has to go and do what she feels is necessary for her to really please Allah.

 

There are a lot of stories told about these young girls who join ISIS and I feel like they don’t really understand what they’re getting into. They’ve watched a lot of stuff online about why they should be going, that it’s the will of Allah. They’re brought up in in such strict environments at home, but at the same time having a conversation with someone online where they are being promised this life of “you get to do this and you get to you get to be free and you can have a husband and you’re pleasing Allah by doing that.” For Ushna, her faith is very important and she always goes back to believing that it’s the will of Allah, this is why she has taken this journey and I believe a lot of young girls who do leave for the Islamic state believe the same. But unfortunately they’re very much mislead.

 

How did you research for the character?

I wanted to be true to the character so I had to do a lot of research into what it’s like to be a young Muslim teenage girl who is brought up a within strict family background. I found myself on a lot of websites and looking at a lot of twitter accounts. There’s so much social media out there on ISIS supporters and it’s unbelievably overt. Nothing’s hidden so you see a lot of men and women supporters and you can also see how a lot of young girls are called into it. I also have a lot of Muslim friends that I spoke to about their culture, about their faith and what it means to them.

 

There’s a well-known story of the three Bethnal Green girls that left London to join ISIS in Syria. I feel like a lot of the information that informs the character of Ushna is based on many girls that have had the same story. For many girls they’re offered online by ISIS a sense of belonging and finding their own path and their dīn, which is their faith, their religion.

 

You spend a lot of the time veiled. How did that affect how you approached the role?

Performing with a veil and the Niqab and the Abaya…it’s not easy! We have so many layers on and it gets really hot for one thing. Trying to portray emotions is the hardest thing and you don’t want to overact and be doing a lot of eye acting. You want to keep the sincerity and the seriousness of it. And you can’t watch yourself back so you really have to trust in what you’re doing and what Peter says. If he likes what we’re doing, then surely it’s going to be great. There’s a lot of truth in the eyes I think and a lot that can be told through just your eye. It’s a challenge but a good challenge for an actress.

 

What journey does she go on?

I remember Peter saying that Ushna was the first character that he came up with and she’s one of the characters that goes on, I feel like, the most interesting journey. She goes from being this young, spoilt girl who wants everything her own way, someone who’s energetic and passionate about the faith and feels like she’s very intelligent. She’s then met with the harsh realities of the Islamic State, but she uses that to empower herself and push through and then you see her become a woman. You see her become much stronger through her role in ISIS. You see through the episodes how this strengthens her character and she becomes more determined and she doesn’t want to be the weak link because she’s very intelligent so she applies everything that she can see and that she’s learnt and she uses it to empower her.

 

How did you feel about taking on the project?

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to play this role and portray Ushna in a way that is real, that young girls can relate to. I was also nervous because of the subject matter. I didn’t tell many people because I didn’t know how they would react to it. Eventually I told my family, and my dad almost fainted! But I reassured them that it’s a Peter Kosminsky drama and I wouldn’t want to not do this! I actually turned down another job that I was already on to do this job, because it’s a great script, it’s a great story, it’s true, it’s real, it’s current and Peter is fearless in telling this story.

 

How does the relationship between Ushna and Shakira evolve?

The relationship of Shakira and Ushna is a very interesting one. Ushna sort of sees Shakira as an older sister – someone she can confide in. But the response that she gets from Shakira is very cold and not as she expected. She still tries to have a relationship with her but tries to school her about her dīn. And Shakira doesn’t like being schooled, not by anyone, especially not by a little girl, so the relationship doesn’t blossom in the way that Ushna hopes. But Ushna blossoms in a different way where she becomes more grounded, more firm, less easily pushed around. So when she’s approached by Shakira in a later scene, we see this strength and this growth of Ushna that leaves Shakira shocked as she thinks “who is this person that is speaking to me right now because this is not the same girl that crossed the border with me.” Ushna’s also telling Shakira how she should raise her son and I guess no woman wants to be told how to raise their own child! It leaves their relationship very cold and very icy. But the relationship between Ushna and Isaac is very nice. He’s such a caring young boy and he just wants to help. But he loves his mum and tries not to make her upset so he will keep his distance because he doesn’t want to upset his mum!