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Freeform/Art StreiberYara Shahidi graces the cover of the May issue of Cosmopolitan with Charles Melton, her co-star in the upcoming film, The Sun Is Also a Star. In the interview, she says starring in Freeform’s grown-ishhelps with her real life as a student at Harvard University.
“I can tell you that I give my friends the best advice, because my character gets into so much trouble,” she laughs.
In the film, Yara and Charles portray college students who fall in love. And for any young man hoping for a romance with the 19-year-old actress, she provides a hint of how to capture her heart.
“Dessert is something I’m very serious about,” she explains, “so if I’ve shared dessert with you, it’s another level of connection.”
In grown-ish, Trevor Jackson and Luka Sabbat play Yara’s love interests, but in real life, she says they’re like her brothers, and are very protective.
“Somebody wasn’t being the nicest to me,” Yara recalls, “and I think they both offered to fight them on my behalf. I said ‘No, I’m a pacifist!’ But I appreciated the gesture.”
Grown-ish has been renewed for a third season, and The Sun Is Also a Star opens in theaters May 17. It casts Yara as Natasha, a young physics student who struggles to maintain her romance with an exchange student while her family faces deportation.
Yara posted a behind-the-scenes video of her Cosmopolitan photo shoot with Melton on Instagram, as well as a teaser for the film.
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