Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip SHABANA AZEEZ • "My job is empathy" (The Pitt / The Airport Chaplain / Lesbian Space Princess) #689
Sep 30, 2026
Shabana Aziz is an Australian actor from Adelaide, known for The Pitt, The Airport Chaplain, and voicing Lesbian Space Princess. She discusses acting as an exercise in empathy, the surprising path to The Pitt, and balancing intensity with camaraderie on set. They explore nuanced representation, airport humanity, power and privilege, and the bold independent animation behind Lesbian Space Princess.
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Acting As A Daily Practice In Empathy
- Acting gives Shabana Aziz a practical way to develop empathy by inhabiting lives unlike her own.
- She sees the work as a moral benefit, helping her become a better person while walking in someone else’s shoes.
Learn The Business Behind Acting
- Treat acting as a business that requires self-motivation, preparation, financial awareness, and administrative discipline.
- Shabana Aziz says her arts degree taught her how to be unemployed, hustle independently, and manage unpredictable auditions.
The Nine Minute Zoom Audition That Changed Everything
- The Pitt became Shabana Aziz’s breakthrough after only her second American audition and an unusually simple remote testing process.
- She self-taped, completed a nine-minute Zoom test, and assumed the role had gone to someone else before learning it was hers.