Summer Bishil in Towelhead

Towelhead follows the dark, bold and sometimes shockingly funny life of Jasira (Summer Bashil), a 13-year-old Arab-American girl, as she navigates the confusing and frightening path of adolescence and her own sexual awakening. When Jasira’s mother exiles her to live with her strict Lebanese father in Houston, she quickly learns that her new neighbors find her and her father odd and exotic. Worse, her budding womanhood makes her traditional and hot-tempered father uncomfortable. Lonely in this unfamiliar environment, Jasira seeks to connect with those around her and finds both comfort and cruelty. Discovering that her ethnicity and newfound sexuality make her a target, Jasira must confront racism and hypocrisy both at home and at school. Summer Bishil was born in Pasadena, California on July 17, 1988, to an American mother and a father of East Indian ancestry.

Summer plays a 13 year old but she is actually 18! More with Summer later!

When she was three, her family moved to Saudi Arabia and two years later, the family moved to the small island Kingdom of Bahrain, where Summer and her brother attended The British School of Bahrain. She attended the U.S. Department of Defense School where she trained intensely on the school swim team with professional coaches. In 2003, Bishil’s family returned to Southern California.

Immediately upon returning, Bishil began pursuing her dream of becoming an actress by studying in acting class and auditioning for agents and managers. Only a few years later, in 2006, she was selected after an arduous audition process to play the lead role in Towelhead. Shortly after completing this first major role, she was cast in Wayne Kramer's film CROSSING OVER, set for release, starring alongside Sean Penn, Harrison Ford, and Ashley Judd.