Exploring ‘Smile 2’ Star Naomi Scott’s Surprising Heritage – From Indian Roots to Ugandan Connection

Over the years, Naomi Scott has slowly and steadily become a favorite in Hollywood. Having starred in movies such as Disney’s live-action Aladdin as Princess Jasmine and the recently released horror sequel Smile 2, Scott has proven to be a versatile actress with a bright future ahead.

However, not many people are familiar with the rich cultural heritage that Scott can boast of as a result of a diverse family. Scott’s family roots are tied to India, Uganda, and Britain, which gives her a perspective that has influenced her career and personal life.

Naomi Scott’s Family Background and Heritage

Naomi Grace Scott was born on May 6, 1993, in Hounslow, London, and was raised in a home that truly embraced multiethnic diversity. Her father Christopher Scott is British, and her mother Usha Scott has an even more complicated nationality that seems to add this extra layer to Naomi’s background.

Naomi’s mother, Usha Scott, was also born in Uganda, but her original background is Indian, more specifically from the state of Gujarat. Her family moved from Uganda to the UK after the expulsion of Asians by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972, which is one of the main events of Naomi’s family’s history.

Scott was born and raised in a multicultural family and was given a Christian upbringing, as her parents are pastors at the Bridge Church in Woodford, London. Naomi was raised to be open to both religion and culture. She has often taken pride in her Indian heritage and promoted her Indian culture on social media.

Moreover, Naomi Scott has often been part of confusion because of her appearance. In an interview with BBC (via The Express Tribune), Scott revealed that once she was playing a Bollywood song on her set, and the crew mistook her to be Deepika Padukone, who was the actress in the song. 

Scott spent her childhood in the Christian faith. These spiritual roots later reflected her music, as gospel and R&B were some of the genres that inspired her.

Despite growing up almost entirely in London, Scott’s family ties to India and Uganda have had a big impact on her perspective, which helped her to balance her British background with her multicultural heritage which is very different from her nationality.

Naomi Scott’s Rise to Fame and Her Career

Scott entered the world of entertainment through music. Since childhood, she used to sing in her local church and soon caught attention for her talent. Her music career took off with the release of two EPs- Invisible Division in 2014 and Promises in 2016. Even though Naomi had quite a success with her music, she got fame primarily through acting. 

Her first main acting role on television happened on Disney Channels UK, known as Life Bites, which aired between 2008 and 2009. However, she became famous thanks to her singing and acting in the Disney Channel original movie Lemonade Mouth in 2011. 

After that, Scott’s career was further boosted with the series Terra Nova and the superhero film Power Rangers in 2017. But she found her international fame with the role of Princess Jasmine in the 2019 live-action remake of Aladdin. Her performance was well appreciated, especially her rendition of the song Speechless.

Currently, Naomi Scott is focusing on terrifying audiences with her horror sequel, Smile 2. In the movie, she plays Skye Riley, who is an internationally known pop star haunted by an evil entity. The movie shows Scott struggling with her trauma as her life gets into horror troubles.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the early reviews of Smile 2 have been good. Scott reportedly delivers her character’s fear and remorse due to past mistakes perfectly. 

Smile 2 is now running in theaters.