Amirah J

Amirah J began acting and dancing at age two and developed an early interest in performing. As a child, she and a friend wrote short scripts, built a cardboard television set, and staged performances for their parents and at school events.

While living in Texas, she auditioned for talent scout Nikki Pederson in 2015 and joined Pederson's program. She spent ten months working with Los Angeles casting directors and acting coaches before performing in a Los Angeles showcase in 2016. After receiving representation, she moved to Los Angeles with her family at age nine to pursue acting.

Her training has included a year of study with acting coach Max A. Decker. She has also worked in national commercials, short films, and television guest spots.

Amirah's breakout role came in season nine of Showtime's Shameless, in which she played Xan Galvez. She appeared opposite Jeremy Allen White, and the role established her as a young actress drawn to emotionally demanding dramatic material.

She later reprised the character in Shameless Hall of Shame. Her other early television credits include The Coroner: I Speak for the Dead, All That, and LMFA-NO!, with several of these appearances credited under the name Amirah Johnson.

Amirah has described working with Jeremy Allen White at a young age as an important part of her development. She has said that the actors and productions she worked with over the years helped her acting progress.

In High Potential, Amirah plays Ava Sinquerra, the moody and rebellious teenage daughter of Morgan, a single mother who consults with the LAPD on major crime cases. Kaitlin Olson plays Morgan, creating the central mother-daughter relationship that shapes Ava's story.

Amirah said Ava initially interested her because the character had grown up differently and faced circumstances unlike her own, including an absent father and responsibilities within her family. To approach the role, she used dramatic imagination, drew on friends' experiences, and discussed Ava's development with the show's writers, showrunner, and episode directors.

She described her onscreen chemistry with Kaitlin Olson as immediate and said Olson's comedic timing, preparation, and work in production became valuable lessons. Amirah also recalled Olson helping her prepare for an emotional scene by holding her hands and breathing with her before filming.

Alongside acting, Amirah is a competitive cheerleader who performs as a flyer. She also has a background in hip-hop dance and competitive gymnastics, disciplines that have developed her physical agility and strength.

She has said cheerleading gives her a life outside acting and helps separate her performance career from her personal routine. While attending high school, she balanced classes, senior-year activities, cheerleading, and filming High Potential with support from her teachers and the production team.

Amirah has expressed interest in expanding her work behind the camera. Her future goals include writing, producing, and directing, as well as continuing Ava's story and pursuing film roles.