Rakhee Morzaria is a comedian and actress who stars on the hit CBC comedy Run the Burbs with Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience, Netflix) and has appeared on What We do in the Shadows (FX), My Spy (Netflix) and Private Eyes (Global TV); she is an alumni of The Second City Toronto’s Education Company and her comedic sketch-based shorts have been seen in Kevin Hart’s Just for Laughs short film competition, been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and have upward of a million views.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. For readers unfamiliar with your background, how did you get into the arts?
I started at Second City in Toronto doing improv and sketch comedy. I met an incredible community of people there, formed a sketch group, did shows and later was hired to perform on the Second City stage. I used all the tools I’d learned along the way to start writing from my own voice, doing characters, performing stand up and eventually filmed my series, Note to Self that was picked up by CBC Comedy.
You studied Environmental Studies and spent time working as an editor in Beijing. Was this a strategic move away from a career in the arts or did the experience inspire you to return to acting and comedy?
Ha! No, it was the child of immigrant parents’ move. I didn’t see acting or performing as an actual career option and so I never pursued it 110%…just like 20%. Twenty-percent hopeful. I went to Beijing to travel, see the world and hang out with some friends I’d made when I was on exchange in university. Gosh, I wish it was strategic, but yeah I was just a kid out of school tryna “figure it out” and get away from my parents. After I came back, I started taking classes and my 20% shifted slowly to 110% when I realized it was truly the only thing I wanted to do.
You wrote and starred in the Canadian Screen Awards and Canadian Comedy Awards nominated web series Note to Self. Please tell us more about the origins of the project and the impact it had on your career.
I was working a joe job as a server while doing comedy and acting and had written and shot my web-series, Note to Self. I didn’t have enough money to finish editing it so I was sitting on it while I saved up. One night, someone from CBC Comedy came to one of my stand-up shows – they liked my set and asked me what else I was up to. I showed them a rough cut of one of my episodes and they agreed to co-produce the series and pay me to write and make more! It was a great example of opportunity meeting preparation. I also learned a great deal about writing, collaboration and all the people in the different departments who come together to make a project happen.
You’ve received several accolades with your writing and your comedy sketches have featured in Kevin Hart’s Just for Laughs short film competition, screened at the Atlantic Film Festival. Of your many achievements is there one you’re most proud of?
Not really. They are all kinda, mutations and growths of each other. One couldn’t have happened without the other so… I guess I’m really proud of starting and finishing projects. Ha, that doesn’t sound like much, but starting is REALLY hard and finishing is even harder.
You’ve appeared in several major film and television productions including What We Do in the Shadows, My Spy, Private Eyes and Hudson & Rex, to name a few. What has been the most challenging but rewarding project you’ve worked on?
One of the first roles I ever booked was called Taken, where I was cast as a reporter. There was a fake burning building behind and on “action,” like, a hundred background performers and fake fire fighters would come rushing out as I delivered these technical lines into camera. I got so nervous because I knew that if I messed up the lines, it would mean they’d all have to stop, go back to their initial positions and then run out of the building again. And to top it off, this was one of my early experiences being on set with such a big crew, so there were also, like, 60 people in front of me watching. In the end, I pretended I was performing live in front of a big audience – something that felt more familiar to me, and it really helped.
Congratulations on your latest project ‘Run the Burbs” Tell us more about the series and what we can expect from the new season?
Run the Burbs is a comedy about a family living their best lives in the burbs, making every day a new adventure. It’s a throw-back to those 90s sitcoms, but through the lens of a modern-day family of Vietnamese and South Asian heritage.
There’s a lot more of Camille’s cultural background explored in the new season, which means some new characters are introduced into the world, like her cousin, played by the hilarious Sharjil Rasool. There’s also a guest appearance by Ann Pornel…who is not related to Camille, but still, had to mention it. I love these comedians so much – we know each other well from doing live theatre together, improv and sketch, so it’s been fun bringing those skills to a film set.
Please tell us more about your new project, titled Scaredy-Cat.
It’s a romantic-comedy gone wrong that I wrote and starred in, and also directed! So many hats! I worked with some incredible collaborators and learned a great deal while making it. Shout out to the Toronto Arts Council for awarding me a grant. It’s coming out this year and I’m very excited to share it with the world, so watch out for it!
Where can our readers find out more about you?
On insta, twitter and tiktok @rakheecola
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