Shazia Mirza asked for EastEnders role 37 years ago
Shazia Mirza got cast in EastEnders 37 years after she wrote a letter to bosses asking for a part when she was just 13 years old.
Shazia Mirza said it was "an honour" to be in EastEnders - 37 years after she wrote a letter to the soap's bosses asking for a role.
In the episode that aired on Thursday night (10.07.25), the 50-year-old comic-and-actress played Dr. Ayub, who was involved in baby Jimmy's heart-breaking storyline as she told his parents Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) and Peter Beale (Thomas Law), that his blindness is caused by a genetic mutation.
And Shazia's appearance comes almost 40 years since she wrote a letter as a 13-year-old girl asking if she could be in Albert Square.
Captioning a photo of the letter Shazia received from EastEnders, dated January 19, 1988, and a shot of her playing Dr. Ayub on Instagram, the comic wrote: "37 years ago I wrote to @bbceastenders asking for a part and 37 years later I got one.
"EastEnders is working with advice from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) on a storyline where Lauren and Peter’s son is diagnosed as severely sight-impaired.
"Having struggled to settle baby Jimmy in recent weeks, Lauren becomes concerned by his lack of ability to focus as he struggles to latch during breastfeeding.
"Determined to follow her mother’s instinct, Lauren takes Jimmy to the hospital for further tests, where the doctors confirm that Jimmy is severely sight-impaired.
"The storyline follows Lauren and Peter as they attempt to navigate life with a newborn, the symptoms that Lauren picks up on which leads her to seek a diagnosis, and how the diagnosis will impact Jimmy and their family as a whole.
"It has been an honour to be part of such an important storyline."
Thomas, 32, praised Shazia's acting in her post's comments section.
He wrote: "And you legitimately played your part so so well. We thought it. (sic)."
Meanwhile, Shazia's friend Shaparak Khorsandi also joined Thomas in congratulating her on being cast in the soap.
The 52-year-old comedienne- who also has a dream of being in EastEnders - penned: "Oh my! I LOVE that you wrote asking for a part!!! This is beautiful! Congratulations (and also, a part on Eastenders has always been my dream but thankfully I am hiding my jealousy-to-the-point-of-insanity pretty well) (sic)."
Also commenting on Shazia's post was a RNIB spokesperson, who said the charity appreciated everyone involved for creating the "powerful" storyline
They added: "We've loved advising the EastEnders crew on this and are so grateful to you all for creating such a powerful story. Thank you."
