Marie-Lou Nahhas

Marie-Lou Nahhas (Arabic: ماري لو نحاس‎;) (b. 1989) is a Lebanese American actress, model, and activist best known for playing Egyptian-born inmate Shani Abboud on Season 7 of Orange Is the New Black. She was a finalist for Miss Lebanon 2012.

Nahhas was born in Beirut on Sept. 7. As a teen, she moved with her family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She eventually attended theUniversity of Pittsburgh where she earned her undergraduate degree in biology. She then attended Duquesne University, where she earned a Master's degree in public health while completing her acting studies in addition to working on various movie sets. She then moved to NYC to pursue her acting career professionally in the theatre and CinemaNahhas speaks four languages: English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.

• In 2019, it was announced that Nahhas would be participating in Dubai's STEP Conference 2020, a tech festival for start-ups, finance, and entrepreneurship. She is set to speak as part of the conference's speakers line-up.
• Nahhas is vocal about ending female genital mutilation, visiting with victims in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia’s Afar region, with the United Nations Population Fund and posting regularly on her social media about positive progress made to eliminate the practice. Nahhas's character on Orange Is the New Black, Shani, was a victim of female genital mutilation.
• Nahhas has attended Global Lyme Alliance's annual New York gala to benefit Lyme disease research.