Hijab on Screen: Actors, Characters and Representation

Seeing a woman in hijab in a film can be a moment of recognition. What happens after that first glimpse matters too. Does she get a joke, an ambition, an awkward conversation, a mistake she has to put right? Can we remember something about her when the scene ends?

Those questions make a useful starting point for talking about hijab in film and television. A head covering tells us something about a character's appearance; a story has to do the work of introducing the person. For actors, writers and production teams, that work also involves choices away from the camera: what a role asks of its performer, whose ideas shape the script and how agreed boundaries are respected during filming.

We can explore those choices without expecting one performance to explain every Muslim woman's life. The examples below distinguish documented screen credits from interpretation, and offer ways to watch, discuss or develop a character with more attention.

Start with a scene that gives someone a choice

Imagine a short film about Mariam, a projectionist running a community cinema's opening night. This is an invented example for this guide. The audience is taking its seats, but two organisers have advertised different films. She wears hijab, knows the equipment well and would much rather fix a technical fault than upset either organiser.

There are several ways to write what happens next. Mariam could stand silently by the projector while another character sorts everything out. She would be visible, but we would learn almost nothing about her. A line praising diversity would not give her a meaningful part in the scene.

Now give her a difficult decision. She saw the conflicting bookings yesterday and put off asking about them because one organiser is a friend. With the queue growing, she has to admit what she knew. She proposes a double bill, then realises that keeping everyone late would create another problem. Someone challenges her plan. She listens, changes it and accepts that her friend may be disappointed.

We now have more to watch: competence, hesitation, loyalty and the consequences of avoiding a conversation. Her hijab can simply be part of how she dresses. If faith becomes relevant to the plot, it needs to arise from her particular life, just as her friendship and work do.

Try changing one detail. Perhaps Mariam is a trainee who knows the solution but doubts that anyone will listen. Perhaps she is an experienced manager who finds apologising harder than solving the problem. The same wardrobe can belong to very different people. Their relationships, experience and decisions make the difference.

For a writing exercise, take a scene you have drafted and remove its description of clothing. Can you still recognise the character through what she wants and how she responds? Then put the description back. You are looking for a person whose appearance belongs within a developed life. Give her something to do, someone to disagree with and a reason for choosing her next move.

Look at the choices a portrayal makes

When watching a film or episode, you do not need a scorecard to notice how a character is treated. These are our own discussion prompts. Pick the ones that help you explain a particular scene.

• Follow an ambition. What is she trying to achieve before someone else brings a problem to her? A modest goal, such as getting through an audition or repairing a friendship, can reveal plenty about a person.
• Listen to the disagreement. Does she have reasons of her own, and do other characters respond to them? Notice whether the script lets her argue a point or repeatedly gives another person the job of explaining her.
• Watch what the camera asks you to notice. Consider whose response closes a scene, who remains in the background and whether a moment of embarrassment is shared with the character or played entirely at her expense.
• Look for an everyday world. A home, workplace or friendship group should have details that matter to the action. A collection of decorative objects cannot explain someone's family relationships, language or sense of humour.
• Allow a mixed impression. You might enjoy a character's wit and dislike her behaviour towards a friend. That combination can make for a richer discussion than deciding whether she is a perfect role model.
• Read a clothing change in context. If she starts wearing hijab, changes her style or removes it, what reasons does the story give her? A costume decision alone cannot explain freedom, pressure, happiness or belief.

Several Muslim women in one story also need room to differ. They can share a faith while having incompatible plans, different tastes and unequal amounts of patience. A disagreement between them need not become a contest over which woman represents everyone correctly.

Stories about coercion or prejudice deserve the same close attention as comedies and romances. Ask how the experience belongs to this character, in this setting, and what happens because of it. The subject's seriousness does not remove the need for convincing characterisation.

Keep the person and the part separate

A discussion becomes muddled when it moves without warning from a fictional woman to the actor playing her. The character's dialogue belongs to a script. The performer brings skill and interpretation to the role. Writing, directing, casting and editing involve other responsibilities, even when one person holds several of those jobs.

Use those distinctions when describing a production. Say that an actor plays a character who wears hijab if that is what the work establishes. A screen costume does not tell you what she wears at home or how she describes her religion. For personal identity, use what someone has chosen to say about herself.

The same care applies to words such as Muslim, Arab, Iranian and British. Religion, ethnicity and nationality are different kinds of information. A character may have several identities, but a familiar name or an accent does not establish all of them. If a film leaves a detail unstated, a review can leave it open too.

This is also a fairer way to discuss creative responsibility. You can question a scene's writing without assuming that its actor controlled the finished script. You can appreciate a director's work without treating every character as her personal spokesperson. Check the credits, then make the point about the relevant work.

Three examples, with their credits kept clear

Zoha Rahman and a screen role

Spider-Man: Far From Home, released in 2019, appears in Zoha Rahman's agency biography. Morello Bookings identifies the role as a character who wears hijab. That gives us a specific film and professional credit to discuss, without making assumptions about Rahman's private life.

A credit is the beginning of an assessment. To say more about the portrayal, watch the relevant material and describe what the character actually does. A promotional image cannot tell you how much dialogue she has, how she relates to others or how a scene develops. Small appearances can be discussed carefully without inflating them into claims about an entire franchise.

Lena Khan and work behind the camera

Disney's D23 interviewed Lena Khan as the director of the 2021 film Flora & Ulysses. Her contribution belongs in a discussion of filmmaking, with directing identified accurately. In a separate 2017 interview with Teen Vogue, Khan spoke about questions that concentrated on her hijab.

That personal account can sit alongside a conversation about her craft. An interviewer could ask how she prepares a performance, builds a comic moment or decides which version of a scene to keep. Representation includes getting to discuss the work in detail, while leaving the artist free to decide how much personal experience she wants to share.

We Are Lady Parts and an ensemble's shared ambition

In Channel 4's 2021 introduction to We Are Lady Parts, the band is trying to recruit a guitarist and find an opportunity to perform. The comedy centres on a group of Muslim women. Channel 4 names Nida Manzoor as its creator, writer and director; Anjana Vasan plays Amina Hussain.

Even that brief outline offers a useful point of discussion: the women have a musical project to pursue together. How a programme develops that premise needs to be assessed through the episodes themselves. The premise does not tell us the cast's personal beliefs, or mean that every Muslim viewer will recognise her own life in the same way.

Give a statistic its date and its boundaries

The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative published Missing & Maligned in June 2021. Its researchers studied 200 top-grossing films from 2017–2019, drawn from the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. They counted 8,965 speaking characters and reported that 1.6% were Muslim. Within the Muslim character group, 23.6% were female.

These findings concern characters in a particular historical sample. They do not count hijab-wearing actors or describe everything currently available to watch. A study of screen content also cannot, by those figures alone, establish what an individual viewer learned or what caused a particular act of violence.

When sharing representation research, keep the sample beside the headline number. Check which years and countries were included, what the researchers counted and which conclusion the evidence actually supports. A review of one film can then address its own characters without pretending to measure the whole industry.

Read the role before agreeing to perform it

If you are considering an audition, begin with the dramatic material. What does the character want? What will you be asked to perform? How much of the script can you read? These questions help you decide whether the work interests you, as well as revealing where you need more information.

A clear casting brief gives a performer something to prepare. It can describe the character's place in the story, relevant language or performance skills, and the proposed filming circumstances. Labels such as “traditional” or “modern” leave too much unexplained. A request to play a nervous first-time candidate at a job interview gives an actor a much more specific starting point.

Bring your practical questions into the conversation early. You might need to know whether the character wears hijab throughout, whether the script includes a change of clothing, or whether a scene involves physical contact or demanding movement. Ask about the particular sequence you are concerned about, rather than relying on a broad assurance that everything will be fine.

An enquiry could sound like this: “I'm interested in the role and would like to understand the scene before I prepare it. Is there a later sequence where the character removes her head covering? Who should I speak to about costume and my boundaries?” Adapt the wording to the actual role; it is a starting point for a conversation.

Find out who receives an audition recording and what use is intended for any photographs. A performer may be comfortable submitting material for casting while wanting a separate discussion about publicity. If you have a representative, bring unclear requests to them. Otherwise, ask the production's named contact to explain the proposed arrangement.

Changes deserve another conversation. A revised script, an extra scene or a new promotional request may affect something previously agreed. Make sure you know who will discuss it with you. These suggestions help you prepare questions; the answers and any contractual advice need to relate to the actual production and agreement.

Make the plan work on the filming day

A useful wardrobe conversation is specific enough for the people doing the work. The performer can explain her preferences about adjustments, changing space and who may handle her head covering. Ask before touching fabric or repositioning it, and allow her to make the adjustment herself if she prefers.

Try the agreed costume during the actions the scene involves. Sitting at a desk, putting on a coat and turning quickly towards another actor can reveal different practical needs. Camera and sound teams can contribute their questions during that preparation. The point is to find an arrangement everyone understands while there is time to discuss it.

For example, suppose a scene begins outdoors and continues in a private room. Work through what the audience sees at each point, which clothing changes the script requires and how the transition will be filmed. Do not leave the performer to discover those expectations between takes. A simple conversation about the scene can prevent several departments from making incompatible assumptions.

Continuity photographs need their own agreement. Establish what will be recorded, who needs the image and how it will be kept. An image taken to reproduce a costume detail has a different purpose from a still selected for public promotion. Ask about each use rather than allowing a private reference picture to become publicity by default.

Pass on the working arrangement to the people who need it. They may need to know who makes an adjustment or where a change takes place; they do not necessarily need a personal explanation of someone's beliefs. Name one contact who can resolve a question when the plan changes.

Publicity is part of this preparation too. Agree the factual biography, the photographs available for use and how the performer wishes to be described. An interview can explore preparation, collaboration and the character's decisions alongside any discussion of hijab. Give the person room to talk about the performance she came to make.

Bring in knowledge while revisions are still possible

Casting is one route into a production; shaping the material is another. MA Casting describes both performer casting and consultancy among its services. M Film Lab's profile of Serena Rasoul credits her with founding MA Casting, whose work includes Muslim talent and people from Middle Eastern and North African backgrounds.

There are also resources for examining what appears on screen. In 2022, the Geena Davis Institute worked with Muslim Casting and Pillars Fund on “Surviving” to Thriving: The Muslim Women On-Screen Test. Muslim women from varied backgrounds contributed to its development. The resource helps viewers and creators consider damaging patterns in portrayals.

For a writer or producer, outside knowledge is most useful when there is still a decision to make. A consultant might help you understand a setting, identify a detail that rings false or discuss why a repeated plot device feels restrictive. Give them the relevant pages and explain which questions you need answered.

Be clear about the assignment. Reviewing one scene, advising throughout a production and joining a publicity discussion involve different work. Agree payment, credit, the material to be reviewed and the opportunities for follow-up. Leave enough time to consider the advice and revise the script, rather than asking for approval once everything is fixed.

An actor may have valuable ideas, but cultural consultancy should not quietly become an unpaid addition to her role. Ask whether she wants that separate responsibility. Someone's experience can deepen a production without making her responsible for predicting every audience reaction. The creative team still has to make and explain its own decisions.

Make room for a thoughtful disagreement

You can enjoy a programme and still question part of it. You can also dislike a scene without treating the performer as the target of the criticism. Begin with something another viewer could examine: a line of dialogue, the way a conflict ends or a pattern across several episodes.

Separate description from interpretation. “She is interrupted before answering” describes an event. “The scene makes her perspective seem unimportant” is an interpretation that you can support by looking at what follows. Another viewer may offer a different reading; returning to the scene gives both of you something concrete to discuss.

If you have seen only a clip or trailer, make that clear. A short extract can prompt a question, but it may leave out the answer supplied later in the story. Avoid presenting a promotional fragment as evidence that you have watched and assessed the complete work.

In a viewing group, invite responses without assigning anyone the role of spokesperson. A woman in hijab may want to talk about the editing, a joke or a character's career. She can choose whether to connect the discussion to personal experience. Other participants can examine their own reactions rather than asking her to certify the programme on everyone's behalf.

Keep performers' private lives out of a review of the script. Their off-screen clothing or relationships do not tell us whether a fictional exchange is convincing. If you contact a production about a concern, use its published contact route, identify the relevant scene and explain the issue without encouraging harassment.

For your next watch, follow one character's decision from beginning to consequence. What did she want, what did she choose and what changed? That gives you a way into the story beyond recognising a head covering. It also gives the people who make film and television a clearer conversation about the work they have put on screen.

Sources and scope

The named credits and project descriptions draw on Morello Bookings, Disney D23 and Channel 4. Lena Khan's personal account is from her 2017 Teen Vogue interview. Research comes from USC Annenberg's 2021 Missing & Maligned report; the consultancy and representation resources are described by MA Casting, M Film Lab and the Geena Davis Institute. These sources were checked in October 2026. Mariam's story, the discussion prompts and the example enquiry were written for this guide. The production suggestions are practical starting points, not a description of any named production's procedures.