Getting Ready With Shabana Azeez For The 2026 Emmy Awards

Shabana Azeez calls herself a personality hire. “I love people,” she tells Bustle over Zoom. “I can genuinely get along with most people in the world, and I think everybody has something to offer a workplace.” Of course, while the term might generally refer to someone who brings good vibes — she’s all of that — the 29-year-old is putting in the work to boot.

Days after wrapping The Pitt Season 2 earlier this year, Azeez set off for Melbourne, Australia, to film The Airport Chaplain, an SBS series that premiered Aug. 26 on Netflix for stateside viewers. She stars as Mira Ansari-Cole, the new terminal manager at a bustling international airport. Careerwise, Mira is a little more advanced than The Pitt’s fan-favorite medical student, Victoria Javadi, but as Azeez notes, they’re both vying to be taken seriously in a high-pressure workplace.

“There’s a really interesting thing about power and how, as a young woman, we don’t really step into our power. We’re not told to. We’re not supported in that, necessarily,” Azeez says, noting that playing the boss helped her realize how much she’s grown in real life. “It was really wonderful to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I am OK with being in control.’”

It’s been meaningful for Azeez to work back home in Australia during the country’s burgeoning on-screen moment. “I feel like growing up, Australia's exported culture was very Crocodile Dundee, and often Caucasian, suntan, beautiful blond, blue-eyed people — which, obviously, there was no space for me in that world,” she says.

Today, Azeez is carving out that place — places, given her globe-hopping credits lately. “I’ve spent the last two years trying to figure out how to always have half my friends on the other side of the planet,” she says of her two homes. “It does mean I’m on my phone all the time.”

And back at The Pitt, you needn’t look any further for the medical drama’s impact than the 2026 Emmys, where Azeez and her castmates took the stage to celebrate their second consecutive Outstanding Drama win. It’s a glamorous evening — as Azeez shares below — but don’t get too lost in the fanfare.

As star and executive producer Noah Wyle noted at the ceremony, the cast would be “hitting it hard tomorrow morning… really early” after their big win. But truthfully, Azeez tends to come around even when she isn’t working to shadow the show’s various departments. At lunchtime, she’s passionate about waving over The Pitt’s guest actors to share a meal. She knows what it’s like to guest on a show and not know where to sit.

“I hope everybody feels comfy here,” she says. “I think that a lot of people care about that.”

Below, Azeez takes Bustle behind the scenes of her night at the Emmys — featuring styling by Laura Sophie Cox, makeup by Aimee Twist, and hair by SherriAnn Cole.

“We’ve been comparing our updos to pastries recently. This is a good croissant.”

“Look at all the twists and fun details Sherri put in my croissant! She is the goat of goats.”

“Casualties. Goodbye wisps of hair.”

“Look at the beading! The details! Jewels! Bling! I am not worthy!”

“The low waist on this corset is so chic I was speechless when I saw it.”

“Aimee put loads of body glow on me. This is the skin of a killer, Bella.”

“Very welcome, well-executed photobomb. Everybody likes this.”

“It took two people to help corset me into this dress. It takes a village to be chic. I need SO much help.”

“Every time I look at the beading on this dress, I blush. It’s so good. Laura makes miracles happen. Like, how insane is this dress? Sometimes she pulls directly from my Pinterest. She’s gotten me so many of my dream dresses. I’m so lucky.”

“We put a little blush on my collarbones for some depth, can you tell?”

“My train wouldn’t fit on the carpet, so please see this photo of how we wanted it to lay! Behind me! In one neat column! Nice.”

“Then we went to the HBO afterparty in the comfiest, buttery soft dress of all time.”

“OK drapery! OK comfort! OK lingering battle scars from my Emmys dress corset! (Zoom in on my back,) I love butter yellow so much, but it’s a lil triggering because I’m lactose intolerant.”