Zahra Newman is a Jamaica-born Australian actress.
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Early life and education
Zahra Newman was born in Jamaica. She migrated to Australia at the age of 14 with her mother.
She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2008.
Career
Stage
Newman appeared as Nabalungi in the original Australian cast of The Book of Mormon.
She has performed extensively with leading theatre companies in Melbourne and Sydney. Her theatre credits include Miss Julie, The Effect, The Mountaintop, The Cherry Orchard, Clybourne Park, The Drowsy Chaperone, Richard III and Rockabye for Melbourne Theatre Company; Rosalind in As You Like It for Bell Shakespeare; The Blind Giant is Dancing, Ivanov and Private Lives for Belvoir; Love and Information for Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company; The Government Inspector for Belvoir and Malthouse Theatre; and Random for the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Theatre Company and Brisbane Powerhouse. She appeared in the original Australian cast of the musical An Officer and A Gentleman.
In August 2023, Newman appeared alongside Bert La Bonté in Fences. In October 2023 she played music legend Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.
In 2024, Newman played all 23 characters in Sydney Theatre Company's Dracula.
Screen
Newman's television and film credits include Wentworth, Rush, Childhood's End, and Neighbours.
In 2026 she plays DSS Isabel Pena in the Apple TV+ drama series Last Seen, originally titled The Dispatcher.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
In 2014, Newman was nominated for Helpmann Awards for both Best Female Actor in Play for The Mountaintop and Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play for The Government Inspector. She received a Green Room Award for Female Actor for Random in 2012.
