Shannon Esra

Shannon Esra (née Esrechowitz; born 1 February 1984) is a South African actress and voice-over artist. She is known for playing the lawyer Sandra Stein in the drama series The Queen and The River and Samantha Hugo in the series Lioness. Esra is among the first Caucasian actresses to play a lead role in Bollywood in the film Salaam-e-Ishq.

Early life

Early life and career beginning

Esra had her first "taste" of acting at age 4, narrating at a nursery school Purim concert. She later did impersonations of Elvis Presley at local talent contests.

Esra did her first professional acting at the age of 16, when she appeared in the film I Dreamed of Africa (starring Kim Basinger), playing a character named Siri. Dying her hair blonde and speaking in an American accent, Esra plays an American who travels to India to stop her boyfriend (played by Kushal Punjabi) from marrying. After reaching India, she met Raju, a taxi driver (played by Govinda) who comes to her assistance and she eventually falls in love with Raju.

In 2005 she guest-starred alongside Eric Stoltz, playing his estranged and embittered ex-wife, in the Sci Fi Channel's miniseries The Triangle. She also played the romantic lead Katie in Darrell Roodt's film about rugby, Number 10.

In 2005 Esra played the lead role of Caz O’Donough, an undercover police officer, in the gritty South African psychological thriller / police drama Snitch. Caz is a 20-year-old single mother, finding out that the father of her daughter, Lawrence Carter, is a member of a mafia-style crime family that her "tough cop" father Chisel, has been trying to bring down.

She appeared in Tim Greene's multiple South African Film & Television Award-winning newsroom drama Hard Copy, as the ambitious investigative journalist Kim Smollen. Kim is a Jewish girl in her mid-20s who started working as the entertainment reporter at the hard edged newspaper The Bulletin. In the third season Kim is given the opportunity for "serious" reporting, at the now re-invented sleazy tabloid The Bullet.

Between 2021 and 2023, she has starred in two seasons as Samantha Hugo in the South African crime drama series Lioness.

Filmography

Films Year Title Role Notes 2000 I Dreamed of Africa Siri American film 2006 Number 10 Katie 2007 Salaam-e-Ishq Stephanie Indian Hindi-language film 2011 2ND Take 'Movie' Lindsey 2015 The Gamechangers Jen Kolbe BBC docudrama 2021 The Ground Under Jessica 'Jess' Stuckman 2023 Do Your Worst Sondra

Television Year Title Role Notes 2003 Yizo Yizo 3 Robbery Daughter 2004 Isidingo Yvette Meyer 2004 Snitch Caz O’Donough 2005 The Triangle Sally TV miniseries, Sci Fi Channel 2006–2007 Hard Copy Kim Smollen TV series, season 2, 3 2007–2008 Life Is Wild Lauren Recurring, on The CW series 2008 Wild at Heart Angie Season 3 2008 The Lab Samantha Mazur Season 2 2010 Miss Behave Rachel 2015–2017 Isidingo Angelique Scott 2017–2021 The Queen Sandra Stein Season 2 - 6 2018–2022 The River Season 1 - 5 2019 The Throne Season 1 2020 - 2021 Gomora Season 1 - 2 2021 - 2022 Legacy Season 1 - 2 2020 Still Breathing Candice Burton 2021–present Lioness Samatha Hugo Main role

Personal life

Esra lives in Sandton with her parents and younger brother. She is a "closet fan" of competitive ping-pong competitions.