Summer Bishil's name may not ring a bell for you now, but this rising star is taking Hollywood by storm. Named one of Variety's 10 Actors to Watch, she's making her big screen debut in controversial new movie Towelhead, based on the novel of the same name. In the movie, Summer plays Jasira, a 13-year-old Arab-American girl sent to live with her strict Lebanese father in Houston, Texas. Summer, too, had a big move in her life: at the age of 3, her parents relocated their family from California to the Middle East, where she lived until her early teens and moved back to Cali. It was then that Summer started auditioning, scoring various guest spots and a role in Return to Halloweentown. Get to know this rising star now!

Jasira is 13, but you were 18 during filming. How did you "become" 13 again?
I tried to find where [my voice] sat for her character. I even changed how my face sat. I also changed my body posture: I slouched her; I made her uncomfortable about new breasts.

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