MEET SUPINDER
SHOWBIZ CALLING!
Home page photo by DAN ROB; photo above by MARK BINKS
Born in Chandigarh, India, and raised in Toronto, Supinder Wraich found her passion for performing at the young age of five, putting up skits for her friends and family.
Her dreams of being in showbiz were temporarily put on hold while she attended a heavy maths and sciences focused high school which eventually brought her to study communications at the University of Ottawa. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, Supinder’s love for the arts saw her enroll in the Advanced Film and Television Program at Sheridan College, focusing on writing and producing. She joined Sawitri Theatre Group, the award-winning Mississauga-based South Asian theatre organization, and went on to attend the Canadian Film Centre’s (CFC) Acting Conservatory headed by internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Norman Jewison.
Her first big break came when she was cast in the Emmy award-winning web series Guidestones, a role that resulted in her win for Best Performance in a Program or Series Produced for Digital Media at the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards. She has since worked in several film and television productions including Hunter’s Moon; Textuality; The Border and Combat Hospital (CBC); Degrassi: The Next Generation and Saving Hope (CTV); Rookie Blue (Global); Copper (BBC) and The Beaverton (COMEDY), etc.
Supinder has directed and written multiple films that have screened at festivals across North America including The Reel World Film Festival, The Punjabi International Film Festival (PIFF) and Filmi and her 2014 music video debut for Imran Khan’s Pata Chalega has garnered over 36 Million YouTube views.
Understanding the importance of philanthropy, Supinder supports causes that are close to her heart. Alongside her family, she gives back to Seva Kitchen, an organization that provides free food to the hungry while promoting the values of Sikhism.
And now Supinder is set to release her web series The 410, about a South Asian female lead who turns to a life of crime to bail her truck driver father out of prison. The show, which she wrote and stars in, will air on the CBC’s streaming service CBC GEM on May 2.
Name: Supinder Wraich. I’ve heard it means Angel of Peace, but I think my parents just thought I was Super and stuck Inder on the end!
Currently: I just recorded a video game with Ubisoft that’ll be releasing in the near future, but the project I’m most excited about is The 410 which I wrote, act in, and helped produce. The show airs on CBC’s Gem network on May 2, and centres around an Indo-Canadian wannabe-Instagram-it-girl as she struggles to navigate the “family business” after her father is jailed for smuggling millions worth of narcotics into Brampton. I wrote the show after being struck by the number of Punjabi truck drivers caught in the web of trafficking drugs between Canada and the US. As an actor, I always go into what is the most personal, and the idea of what an event like that does to family stuck with me, and I wrote The 410 with that in mind.
Favourite colour: Red.
Favourite designer: Mani Jassal.
Favourite Bollywood star: Aishwarya, hands down.
Favourite Hollywood star: Priyanka!
Favourite movie: The Lives of Others.
Favourite singer: Jessie Reyez.
Favourite song: F**k being Friends.
Favourite tv show: SMILF.
Favourite ice cream flavour: Pistachio! (Although, I had to spell-check it...).
Favourite cuisine: Thai. favourite restaurant: Sassafraz.
Favourite sport: uhhh...
Favourite sportsperson: Does Nav Bhatia count?
Favourite author: Jhumpa Lahiri – The Interpreter of Maladies.
Favourite activity: Watching a movie.
I hang out: At my house.
I’m freaked out by: Wild animals.
I need: Sunshine.
I want to be: Satisfied.
My role models: My parents, because they are always pushing forward, and never, ever, take no for an answer.
Tips to save the planet: Recycle, Reduce, Reuse.
In a perfect world: We’d all understand each other.
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