Bilal Baig
{{Short description|Canadian writer and actor}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bilal Baig
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1995}}https://www.macleans.ca/longforms/bilal-baig-sort-of-queer-identity/
| birth_place = Scarborough, Ontario, Canada{{cite web | url=https://torontostar.pressreader.com/article/282071986636373 | title=Toronto Star ePaper }}
}}
Bilal Baig is a Canadian writer and actor. They are best known for their play Acha Bacha and CBC series Sort Of (2021–2023).[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2020/10/15/entertainment-news-new-cbc-comedy-will-star-genderqueer-playwright-bilal-baig-as-a-gender-fluid-millennial.html "Entertainment news: New CBC comedy will star genderqueer playwright Bilal Baig as a gender-fluid millennial"]. Toronto Star, 15 October 2020.
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,J. Kelly Nestruck, [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/theatre-reviews/with-acha-bacha-theres-no-time-like-the-present/article37892869/ "Review: With Acha Bacha, there’s no time like the present"]. The Globe and Mail, 7 February 2018. was staged in a joint production by Theatre Passe Muraille and Buddies in Bad Times in 2018, and presented at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace.Jose Teodoro, [https://nowtoronto.com/culture/theatre/acha-bacha-queer-south-asian-canadian-life-bilal-baig "Acha Bacha explores queer South Asian-Canadian life with humour and heart"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516180126/https://nowtoronto.com/culture/theatre/acha-bacha-queer-south-asian-canadian-life-bilal-baig |date=2021-05-16 }}. Now, 8 February 2018.{{Cite web |title=Acha Bacha {{!}} The Toronto Theatre Database |url=https://ttdb.ca/shows/acha-bacha/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web|title=Nonbinary millennial is front and center in HBO Max dramedy 'Sort Of'|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/nonbinary-millennial-front-center-hbo-max-dramedy-sort-rcna6204|access-date=2021-11-21|website=NBC News|date=20 November 2021 |language=en}} 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.Sadaf Ahsan, [https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2022/06/20/trans-non-binary-actors-push-for-more-recognition-as-awards-season-approaches.html "Trans, non-binary actors push for more recognition as awards season approaches"]. Toronto Star, 20 June 2022. 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 categoriesJoseph Pugh, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/csa-gender-neutral-performance-1.6561219 "Canadian Screen Awards switching to gender-neutral performance categories"]. CBC News, August 25, 2022. 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.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/csas-final-night-2023-1.6811617 "The Porter, Sort Of showered in awards on the CSAs' final night"]. CBC News, 14 April 2023.
Theatre credits
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Theatre ! Director(s) ! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
|---|
| rowspan=3 |2018
| Acha Bacha | Playwright | Theatre Passe Muraille | {{small|Brendan Healy}} | {{center|Taylor, Christopher. [https://thetheatretimes.com/baigs-acha-bacha-shows-that-sometimes-real-stories-dont-have-happy-endings/ "Baig's Acha Bacha Shows That Sometimes Real Stories Don't Have Happy Endings."] The Theatre Times, June 30, 2018.}} |
Filmography
=Television=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| scope="row" | 2021–2023
| Sort Of | Sabi Mehboob | Lead/Creator |
=Accolades=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Award ! scope="col"| Category ! scope="col"| Nominee(s) ! scope="col"| Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Ref heading}} |
|---|
| 2022
|Gotham Independent Film Awards |Outstanding Performance in a New Series | |{{nom}} |{{Cite web |last=Gotham |date=2022-10-25 |title=2022 Gotham Awards Nominations Full List {{!}} The Gotham |url=https://thegotham.org/press/2022-gotham-awards-nominations-full-list/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Gotham |date=2022-11-28 |title=32nd Annual Gotham Awards Winners Announced {{!}} The Gotham |url=https://thegotham.org/press/32nd-annual-gotham-awards-winners-announced/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |language=en-US}} |
| 2022
|Entertainment |{{nom}} |
| 2022
|[https://www.academy.ca/ Canadian Screen Awards] |Best Writing, Comedy |Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo |{{won}} |
| 2023
|[https://www.academy.ca/nominees/?cat=t Canadian Screen Awards] |Best Lead Performer, Comedy |Bilal Baig |{{won}} |
| 2023
|Canadian Screen Awards |Best Writing, Comedy |Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo |{{won}} |
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baig, Bilal}}
Category:21st-century Canadian actors
Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
Category:Canadian non-binary actors
Category:Canadian television actors
Category:Canadian stage actors
Category:Canadian people of Pakistani descent
Category:Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
Category:Canadian non-binary writers
Category:Canadian queer writers
Category:Non-binary dramatists and playwrights
Category:Writers from Mississauga
Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Category:Canadian queer actors
Category:Best Leading Performance in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners