Zenobia Shroff (born May 27, 1965) is an Indian-born American actress and former model. Shroff has been an actress, writer, teaching artist and sketch comedian for over 30 years and she is known for her role in the 2017 film The Big Sick, and as Muneeba Khan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Early life Shroff grew up in a Parsi family in South Bombay, in what is now known as Mumbai.
Career Shroff began her professional career at age sixteen as a commercial print model. After seven successful years as a model, she switched to acting. She got her acting start in Mumbai under the mentorship of Pearl Padamsee. She then moved to study acting at New York City's Circle in the Square Theatre School. Soon after, she appeared at the Broadway Castillo Theatre, where she played several roles such as Nora in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House to German avant-gardist Heiner Müller. She also performed in Erotic Adventures in Venice at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, in Milan Kundera's Jacques and His Master, and in Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She made her acting debut in the 1989 film Percy.
2007–2016 In 2007, she was cast as Roxanne in Little Zizou, written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala. For that role she was nominated as best actress at the New York Indian film festival. A few years later, she appeared in When Harry Tries to Marry, an American romantic comedy film. She followed that up with her first Bollywood film, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu alongside Imran Khan. The film received critical acclaim. Her solo show, Show How to Succeed as an Ethnically Ambiguous Actor premiered at the Planet Connections Festival in June 2016. For that performance she has been nominated as Outstanding Solo Performer.
Shroff has been a lifelong dancer, starting with the classical Indian temple dance, Bharat Natyam for several years and moving onto jazz and modern as a young adult. She is a founding company member of the Shiamak Davar dance company with whom she toured nationally doing musical theatre including playing Anita in West Side Story, Cabaret, and A Chorus Line.
2017–present She has performed stand-up at the Guild Gallery, the Indo American Arts Council, Don't Tell Mama, UCB and the South Asian International Performing Arts Festival. She went on to perform her show, Show How to Succeed as an Ethnically Ambiguous Actor, with over 30 characters in and off-Broadway at the Castillo Theatre in a full run in the summer of 2017. Also in 2017, she was cast as Kumail Nanjiani's mother in The Big Sick, produced by Judd Apatow. The cast was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2018.
She has appeared in the American medical drama series The Resident, American political drama television series Madam Secretary, and a recurring role as Priya Ullah in seasons 4 and 5 of The Affair. In 2020, she voiced one of the many counselors named “Jerry”, in the Disney-Pixar film Soul.
In 2022, she was cast as Muneeba Khan in the Marvel Studios series Ms. Marvel on Disney+. She reprised the role in the 2023 film The Marvels.
Personal life She holds a master's degree in Psychology.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1989 Percy Vera 2008 Little Zizou Roxanne Pressvala 2010 When Harry Tries to Marry Geeta Shankar 2012 Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu Nicole Braganza 2016 Misaligned Nadia's Mother Short film 2017 The Big Sick Sharmeen 2019 (t)here Geeta (Mother) Short film 2020 Save Yourselves! Su's Mom Voice role Soul Counselor Jerry Voice role 2021 7 Days Rita's Mom 2023 The Marvels Muneeba Khan 2025 This Tempting Madness Lakshmi 2026 Rishta Noreen Auntie Short film TBA Roshni Post-production Sonia Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 2018–2019 The Resident Himaya Pravesh 3 episodes 2018 The Affair Priya Ullah 6 episodes The Greatest American Hero Leena TV film Madam Secretary Indian Prime Minister Vanya Kharti Episode: "E Pluribus Unum" 2022 Ms. Marvel Muneeba Khan Main role (6 episodes) 2025 Marvel Zombies Muneeba Khan (voice) 1 episode
Awards Actor Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2018 Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture The Big Sick
References
External links