Sugith Varughese is a celebrated and distinguished name within the Canadian entertainment industry.
As an actor, he has over 90 screen credits, most currently on the hit TV comedy Kim’s Convenience. He has also made many stage appearances, including a Dora Award nominated performance starring in Little Pretty and The Exceptional at Toronto’s Factory Theatre. He recently appeared in Animal Farm at Soulpepper and The Men In White at Factory Theatre. He is also a Writers’ Guild of Canada award winning screenwriter and Gemini nominated TV writer. He was the first minority to attend the prestigious Canadian Film Centre and his short films have screened at festivals globally and won several awards. His stage play Entitlement premiered at the Summerworks Theatre Festival in Toronto and he co-wrote the acclaimed outdoor play with music,The Postman, that premiered at the Panamania arts festival as part of the 2015 Pan Am Games. He is listed in Who’s Who in Canada.
Feature films include “Remember”, “Orphan” and “Mission to Mars”. He was a series regular on CBC’s Gemini-winning comedy series “An American in Canada” and a recurring character on CBC’s famed comedy “Little Mosque on the Prairie” as well as a recurring character on Omni’s night time soap, “Metropia.”
He has been on the faculty of Humber College’s Acting for Film and Television program, Centennial College’s film program, the Toronto Film School. He is a governor representing the WGC on the board of AFBS, the insurance and pension plan for the WGC and ACTRA and he is on the vice-president of the board of the AFC, Canada’s charity that assists arts and entertainment workers in crisis.
On Tuesday March 5th 2019 from 6:45pm -8:00pm eastern standard time fans can interact with the actor by asking him questions related to his role of Mr. Methta on CBC’s hit comedy series Kim’s Convenience , anything else related to his the show as well as his other work in the entertainment industry.Fans are also welcome to share relevant comments with the talented actor. With a new episode of Kim’s Convenience airing right after the chat and Mr. Mehta being featured in this week’s episode, it is an opportune way for fans to connect with the delightful artist.
The comments section will open up shortly before the event @ approximately 6:30pm eastern standard time.In order to see Sugith’s responses to the questions and to see what other readers are asking, be sure to refresh the page several times throughout the session.
Questions related to the event can be sent in advance by e-mail @ intuitpublicity@yahoo.ca.Live technical support during the event will be available on the blog’s Facebook page.We look forward to hosting this event and hope you have an enjoyable, interactive experience!
Abbas Karimjee's Weblog 
I’m here.
LikeLike
I just sent questions in comments. Hope you got it.
LikeLike
Any luck?
LikeLike
Anybody out there?
LikeLike
Welcome everyone- we have been having some technical issues, but are up and running now
LikeLike
Still here.
LikeLike
How did you get the job working on Fraggle Rock? Any stories of meeting Jim Henson while working on it?
LikeLike
Hi,
I am a big fan of Kim’s Convenience. My question is: As an actor in Canada, do you find that there are more opportunities in Canada for actors now than there were in the past?
LikeLike
Let’s see if this is working before I answer that Fraggle Rock question.
LikeLike
Sugith, it is working perfectly! Glad to have you here!
LikeLike
Okay, I think it is. Well, I’m amazed you know I wrote Fraggle Rock! Yes, Jim directed one of my 10 episodes and was around on the show as he played Cantus, one of the recurring characters. I remember being SO intimidated by him but he was just a very quiet, serious man who ran a tight ship. My favorite thing about him was that he was always about the story. So he made us write the answers to 5 questions about the story of that episode on the front page of every script. I asked him why and he said, “so anyone working on this show will have no excuse not to know what it’s about.”
LikeLike
I still use those 5 questions when I write today and I even teach them when I taught scriptwriting.
LikeLike
Nice! Thanks for sharing that. That’s pretty cool! ^_^
LikeLike
Okay on to Sharon’s question.
LikeLike
You know, I was probably the first brown actor trying to break in professionally in Canada. I really started as a writer and the 2nd thing I wrote was a movie for CBC TV called Best of Both Worlds. We couldn’t find a brown actor to star and so I auditioned and got the part and that’s how I started acting. So I guess you could say I had to make my own opportunity.
LikeLike
I love the diversity on Kim’s Convenience.
LikeLike
The diversity is lovely and really reflects how well integrated minority communities are within Canada!
LikeLike
Who were some of your motivational figures in the acting industry? What motivated you to continue down the path or film writing and acting when times were tough?
LikeLike
Are you going to be with the Kim’s Convenience cast on March 30th for the Family Fun Day?
LikeLike
Hm, my answer to her question didn’t show up.
LikeLike
So I AM trying to answer Sharon’s question, but it doesn’t show up.
LikeLike
I’m going to try (third time) to answer Sharon’s question. LOL
LikeLike
It showed up for me… (check your twitter)
LikeLike
I got your reply to my first question. 😊
LikeLike
Wow, this is harder than I thought. Should have had you guys over to the house. LOL
LikeLike
Okay, to answer Sharon’s question for the third time…LOL…I started as a writer and wrote a TV movie for CBC way back that needed a brown actor to star. When we couldn’t find anyone, I begged to audition and got the part, which is how I started acting. That was 30 plus years ago. So you could say I had to make my own opportunity back then. I’d say now there are WAY more opportunities for actors of colour.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think only the series leads are going to be at the March 30th event.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, looks like I answered Sharon’s question twice. Sorry about that.
LikeLike
Are there any particular either American or Canadian Actors or Directors you would like to work with in the future?
LikeLike
Well, sure. I mean who wouldn’t want to be in a Scorcese movie or something like that? But it’s a wacky business. I was in a movie called Mission to Mars, which was directed by Brian de Palma, who is a famous director I studied in film school. But he wasn’t really very much fun to work for. However, they never told me who was in the movie and I didn’t find out until I got to set my first day. And i found out my scenes were with 2 time Academy award winner Armin Mueller-Stahl. And he was awesome to work with. So I kind of like that luck of the draw aspect of the business. Your heroes may disappoint you but you never know when you’ll be surprised.
LikeLike
That’s too bad. So many great films of his, even Phantom of the Paradise but also the classics like Scarface, The Untouchables, Carrie, etc…
Nice to hear about working with Armin.
LikeLike
What was your passion for getting into acting and film writing? Who were some of your motivational figures as a kid growing up? Furthermore, what motivates you to continue in this industry as an ethnic minority?
LikeLike
good evening sir
LikeLike
I watched the little mosque at the prairies
LikeLike
and enjoyed every minute of it
LikeLike
So to answer the question about what passion got me into this: I think I just didn’t want to be invisible. I grew up in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. I was born in India but came to Canada as a baby. And I remember my parents taking me to a famous Indian film at the university when I was 11. And when I saw that film–even though it was in a foreign language, I saw brown people on screen for the first time. And I realized that all those times I went to the movies with my friends–James bond or cowboy movies or whatever–I had to make a leap of imagination that they didn’t. but when I saw that Indian actor on screen–in black and white–I knew that I was invisible in my own country’s screens. So I think I just didn’t want to feel that way and that’s what triggered going into the arts. I think.
LikeLike
Thank you for doing this and answering my questions. I enjoyed it.
LikeLike
What cast were you playing in the little mosque at the prairie
LikeLike
As for what makes me continue as a minority in this business, well, I STILL don’t want to be invisible and I don’t think we have achieved the goal of equality on screen for all yet. I mean, we ALL matter, all our stories matter and we should all see ourselves, so that we don’t have to make the leap that I had to as a kid and my white friends didn’t have to.
LikeLike
I played Faisal, the even more conservative Muslim in the town than Baber. I was in 19 episodes of the Little Mosque on the Prairie as Faisal.
LikeLike
what cast were you playing in the little mosque in the prairies?
LikeLike
dahla, did you see my response to your question?
LikeLike
yes
LikeLike
Sugith I just received this question by e-mail from Craig MacDonald:
How did you get involved in Kim’s Convenience and would you like to see more of Mr. Mehta’s restaurant business or personal life explored?
LikeLike
Mashallah that is what the Lord wanted. I really enjoyed that show. Do you remember what episodes did you act in?
LikeLike
Well, how I became part of Kim’s is interesting, I think. I actually auditioned for another role before the show started filming — and didn’t get it. Then halfway through filming season 1, they called and said there as another role that they thought I could play and they’d use my first audition to show CBC. And so I ended up doing that, which was Mr. Mehta who was only in one episode–season 1, episode 6 called Rude Kid. But after I rehearsed with Paul, they said I’d be back to do 2 more episodes. And when I got the script for those, I recognized the dialogue from my FIRST audition for the character I didn’t get. So it appears that they decided to expand Mr. Mehta into being that character I’d first auditioned for and didn’t get. That’s show biz!
LikeLike
Sugith, thanks for your great responses. What impact do you think shows such as Kim’s Convenience and Little Mosque have on Canadian culture and what do you think these shows say about our cultural fabric?
LikeLike
What role are you playing in Kims convenience? Is the Hindi language used?
So you are playing the role of Indian. Hindi Gujju or what?
LikeLike
So to answer part 2 of Craig’s email: I think that there’s lots of story possibilities with all of us that they haven’t got to yet, especially Mr. Mehta. I’m not sure whether we’ll go to the restaurant unless the Kim’s go there, but certainly I’m hoping there’s more to do with Mr. Kim and Mr. Chin. If you watched the show this season, you finally saw the 3 of us together and it’s obvious that we know each other and have history together, so that is an golden opportunity for fun story stuff. Now that they have the basement of the Kim’s, I am hoping there’s a secret poker game for us to play some episode. And a trip to the golf course.
LikeLike
To answer Abbas’ question: Well, the impact of Kim’s and Little Mosque is enormous. We now have shows that are now part of our popular culture that revolve around non-anglo characters and are reflective of the country as I know it. But in a way that’s entertaining and exposing those who may not know people like the Kims or the Muslims from Little Mosque to them. Making them less “other” and more “us.” That’s huge and powerful. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of that.
LikeLike
We haven’t specified what language the Mehta’s speak other than English yet.
LikeLike
thanks so so far it is English?
LikeLike
how many weeks has Kim’s convenience been running?
LikeLike
The other thing that Kim’s shows now that it’s on Netflix worldwide, is how popular a show that’s uniquely Canadian–uniquely Toronto–can be embraced around the world. The specifics of the Kims, as immigrants running this store in downtown Toronto with their customers and their friends like Mr. Mehta–it translates to people in tons of other countries, who tweet me. It’s amazing.
LikeLike
Kim’s Convenience is airing it’s 3rd season on CBC TV right now. We’re about halfway through. All 3 seasons were 13 episodes. You can see all the episodes up to the one airing tonight on the CBC Gem app in Canada and you can see seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix worldwide.
LikeLike
Yes, it is lovely that people around the world can see Canada’s multiculturalism in play!
Do you have any other projects coming up, which we can look forward to seeing you in?
LikeLike
Before I forget, I just wanted to mention that I’m also in the first episode of a new show called Northern Rescue which is available on the CBC Gem app in Canada and on Netflix in other countries. It’s a fantastic show, family drama, beautiful scenery and you can binge all the episodes now.
LikeLike
Also, I just learned today that a movie I’m in called Red Rover will have it’s Toronto premiere at the Canadian Film Festival opening night, March 19 in Toronto at the Scotiabank Cinema. I play an Elon Musk type billionaire who sets up a competition for the first Mars settlers and Kristian Bruun plays a guy who wants to give up his life on earth to go. It’s a lovely movie so I hope people can either see at at the festival or when it gets released.
LikeLike
Sounds so interesting and it is amazing you play in so many different genres.
How do you think Kim’s Convenience showcases some of the similarities of experiences which different ethnic groups go through, such as the contrast between Mr. Mehta and the Kim’s.
Also, what can you tell us about tonight’s episode?
LikeLike
Red Rover’s site is:
redrover.ca
LikeLike
You can see the trailer there. (That’s my voice on the sound track.)
LikeLike
Abbas, well you need to be flexible and versatile if you want to work in Canadian showbiz! LOL If you look at our actors and writers, we work in all genres, on film, TV, radio, stage–because we wouldn’t make a living if we couldn’t. LOL. I’m a 3 careers, 1 income guy myself. LOL
LikeLike
I THINK tonight’s Kim’s Convenience episode sees the return of my son, played by Ishan Dave who Janet has had her heart broken by in the past. (Mr. Mehta does not know this.) And as I recall, Mr. Mehta makes things worse by trying to make them better.
LikeLike
Hoe do you relate to the character of Mehta>
LikeLike
edit How
LikeLike
Oh, and while I’m here, please check out the movie The Joke Thief, which is available on iTunes and Bell, Rogers and Show On Demand. I have a fantastic part driving a washed up standup comedian to his last chance gig.
LikeLike
Mr. Mehta is a combination of uncles and family friends who I know, but is actually most inspired by my spouse’s boss–who isn’t Indian. I think he’s Jamaican-Lebanese, but I actually copied some of my speech patterns from him. I relate to him because well, I love him. I mean, he’s nothing like me in real life, but I just love playing him, the bombast and ego is too much fun.
LikeLike
And if I’m wrong about which Kim’s episode is on tonight, apologies! LOL (They move them around without telling us.)
LikeLike
Thank you so much Sugith for participating! And thank you to all the fans and readers who came out!
Hope you all enjoy tonight’s episode!
LikeLike
Thanks for having me, Abbas!
LikeLike
Thanks for answering my questions! 🙂
LikeLike