Zehra Fazal


Zehra Qarnain Fazal is an American voice actress and comedian known for voicing Nadia Rizavi in ' and Halo in '. Greg Weisman, the co-creator of Young Justice: Outsiders said "I wrote the role with her in mind. She plays Halo, but she also plays about a dozen other characters."

Career

Prior to her voice acting career, Fazal, who is Muslim-American and of Pakistani descent, was known for her irreverent comedy often poking fun at Muslim identity. Her one-woman musical comedy show Headscarf and the Angry Bitch which she described as partly fictional and partly autobiographical, created Muslim parodies of holiday comedy songs The Ramadan Song instead of The Hanukkah Song and discussed living in America with a "hyphenated identity." Fazal, who self describes as "the Muslim Weird Al", explains that the show explores the fact that "the definition of what it is to be Muslim is expanding and it's okay to be vocal about it." She created the show's character, Zed Headscarf, as "her tougher, bolder, prouder side" partly in response to post-9/11 Islamaphobia she encountered. Her performance won the "best solo performance award" at the Capital Fringe Festival in 2009 and was sold out throughout its New York International Fringe Festival run in 2010.
Fazal has also portrayed Adolf Hitler in an adaptation of Yukio Mishima’s play, My Friend Hitler. She studied with Japan’s Takarazuka Revue Company as a research intern in 2004. On her return to the U.S., she translated and staged Takarazuka Revue's The Rose of Versailles at Wellesley College where she was a student. Fazal explains "I have a knack for taking something that already exists and making it fit into a new mold." Fazal is one of the actresses in the video comedy series F#@K I Love U where she plays doctor Amanda Jain.

Personal life

Fazal was born in Libertyville, Illinois and grew up in Indiana. She has a B.A. from Wellesley College. She speaks Japanese, French and Urdu.

Filmography

Animation

Film

YearTitleRoleNotesSource
2018The Laws of the Universe - Part IZamzaEnglish dub
2020DC Showcase - Batman: Death in the FamilyTalia al GhulDirect-to-video

Video games

Awards and nominations

YearAwardsCategoryNominated forResult
2019Voice Arts AwardsOutstanding Promo Campaign - TV or Web, Best VoiceoverFox Sports FIFA Women's World Cup 2019

2019Voice Arts AwardsOutstanding Animation Character - TV or Web, Best VoiceoverYoung Justice Outsiders - Halo

2019Voice Arts AwardsOutstanding Body of Work, Best Voice Actor