Bilal Baig
Early life
Baig was raised in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Career
Acha Bacha, a play which centers on a non-binary Pakistani-Canadian person struggling to reconcile their gender with their Muslim upbringing, was staged in a joint production by Theatre Passe Muraille and Buddies in Bad Times in 2018, and presented at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace.
Baig is the co-creator, a co-writer, and star of Sort Of, a CBC Television comedy series centering on a genderfluid character. Baig is the first queer South Asian Muslim actor to lead a Canadian primetime television series. The series premiered on CBC in 2021.
Sort Of was the top winner overall in television categories at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 and Baig shared the award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series with writing partner Fab Filippo. Baig had declined to submit their performance for 2022 award consideration due to the gendered categories of Best Actor in a Comedy Series and Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Subsequently, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced that beginning with the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, gender-neutral awards for Best Performance will be presented instead of gendered actor and actress categories Baig was the winner of the inaugural Canadian Screen Award for Best Leading Performance in a Comedy Series at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, in addition to their second award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series, again shared with Fab Fillipo.
Theatre credits
Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Director(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Acha Bacha | Playwright | Theatre Passe Muraille | Brendan Healy |
Filmography
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2021–2023 | Sort Of | Sabi Mehboob | Lead/Creator |
Accolades
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Gotham Independent Film Awards | Outstanding Performance in a New Series | Nominated | ||
2022 | Peabody Awards | Entertainment | Sort Of | Nominated | |
2022 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Writing, Comedy | Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo | Won | |
2023 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Lead Performer, Comedy | Bilal Baig | Won | |
2023 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Writing, Comedy | Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo | Won |
References
- ^ https://www.macleans.ca/longforms/bilal-baig-sort-of-queer-identity/
- ^ "Toronto Star ePaper".
- ^ "Entertainment news: New CBC comedy will star genderqueer playwright Bilal Baig as a gender-fluid millennial". Toronto Star, 15 October 2020.
- ^ J. Kelly Nestruck, "Review: With Acha Bacha, there’s no time like the present". The Globe and Mail, 7 February 2018.
- ^ Jose Teodoro, "Acha Bacha explores queer South Asian-Canadian life with humour and heart" Archived 2021-05-16 at the Wayback Machine. Now, 8 February 2018.
- ^ "Acha Bacha | The Toronto Theatre Database". Retrieved 2024-02-06.
- ^ "Nonbinary millennial is front and center in HBO Max dramedy 'Sort Of'". NBC News. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
- ^ Sadaf Ahsan, "Trans, non-binary actors push for more recognition as awards season approaches". Toronto Star, 20 June 2022.
- ^ Joseph Pugh, "Canadian Screen Awards switching to gender-neutral performance categories". CBC News, August 25, 2022.
- ^ "The Porter, Sort Of showered in awards on the CSAs' final night". CBC News, 14 April 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Christopher. "Baig's Acha Bacha Shows That Sometimes Real Stories Don't Have Happy Endings." The Theatre Times, June 30, 2018.
- ^ Gotham (2022-10-25). "2022 Gotham Awards Nominations Full List | The Gotham". Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ Gotham (2022-11-28). "32nd Annual Gotham Awards Winners Announced | The Gotham". Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ Voyles, Blake (September 20, 2023). "83rd Peabody Award Nominees". Retrieved September 20, 2023.
- ^ "Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo". Academy.ca. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "Bilal Baig". Academy.ca. 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo". Academy.ca. 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2024-02-07.