Bustle Booth
Captain America’s Shira Haas Isn’t Afraid Of The Dark
To make her Marvel debut, the Emmy Award nominee had to confront a major obstacle.
Shira Haas is a night owl. Come 3 o’clock in the morning, she’s just hitting her flow state: reading books like Beware of Pity (an all-time favorite), journaling (everything from poetry to fiction), and of course, studying her lines. “I really like when it gets not just dark, but super quiet at night. Everything stops and I feel so inspired and creative,” the 29-year-old actor tells Bustle. Lately, she’s begun making visual collages as well. “[I hang them] on the wall when I’m in one place for a few months.”
Ever since Unorthodox was released in 2020 — the Netflix show for which Haas became the first Israeli to be nominated for a primetime acting Emmy — her evening respites have subsisted on borrowed time. Between making her West End debut with the musical Opening Night and filming her Marvel debut, Captain America: Brave New World (out now), Haas has been at the mercy of shooting schedules, timezones, and the punishing pace of the theater world.
Starring in Captain America, however, presented Haas what might be her greatest hurdle to date: early morning workouts. “We started training three months before [filming], five times a week, often at 7 a.m., mainly weightlifting because it was more about gaining muscles for me,” says Haas, who plays Ruth Bat-Seraph, a former Black Widow-turned-government official. “This character is a true badass, but also very loyal, mission-oriented, serious character. So [we focused on] the physicality of how I was trying to carry myself.”
Although filming wrapped in 2023, Haas has stuck with the training. “I’m trying to do at least twice a week,” she says. “It really gives me a lot [emotionally] as Shira.”
Learn more about Haas in the Bustle Booth questionnaire below.
In The Bustle Booth
What’s your coffee order?
Black or cappuccino.
What are the saved weather locations on your phone?
LA, Leeds, Tel Aviv, New York, Amsterdam, London, Prague, Berlin, Milan, Paris, Atlanta.
What’s your sign?
Taurus sun, Libra moon, Cancer rising.
Favorite overused movie quote?
“Life is a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”
What was your favorite cartoon as a kid?
Power Rangers and Powerpuff Girls.
What’s one movie or TV show you're currently obsessed with?
The White Lotus. Mike White is such a genius.
Who is your celeb idol?
Female directors like Justine Triet, Celine Sciamma, Sofia Coppola, Greta... I can go on.
If you had to be on a reality TV show, what would it be?
The Amazing Race.
Go-to karaoke song?
Anything Adele.
What is something you would want people to say about you?
That I smell good.
