While almost everyone obsesses over every new thing on streaming services, traditional channels continue to do what they’re good at — producing loveable shows. In Canada, CTV Comedy Channel launched a funny series, Acting Good, with a cast of some of Canada’s rising comedic stars.
The show is loosely based on the experience of the show creator, Paul Rabliauskas, a young First Nations who moved back home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s set in Grouse Lake First Nation in Northern Manitoba and follows the same premise: a comedian who quietly moves back home after failing in the big city. If that premise doesn’t tickle your fancy enough, the show’s eclectic cast makes it a worthwhile binge.
Paul Rabliauskas
Comedian Paul Rabliauskas is the lead cast member and inspiration for Acting Good. A rising standup comedian in Canada, he started his comedy career in the late 2000s and has already recorded a few successes. Apart from the comedy milestone of having a comedy show based on your life, he has performed at the Just for Laughs festival and appeared on CBC’s The Debaters.
Pat Thornton
Pat Thornton is a fellow standup comedian and a founding member of The Sketchersons, a sketch comedy troupe based in Toronto. In 2017, he appeared in Filth City, a drug-scandal-based comedy film loosely based on former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. On January 29, 2019, Thornton was nominated for a Juno Award in the Comedy Album of the Year category for his standup comedy album Chicken. He plays Brady on the show.
Billy Merasty
Billy Merasty is an Aboriginal Canadian actor and writer of Cree descent. Merasty has extensive experience working on theater productions, having appeared in Tomson Highway‘s The Sage, The Dancer and the Fool, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing and The Rez Sisters. Billy is one of Acting Good’s more experienced onscreen cast members, with over 48 films and TV show credits.
Roseanne Supernault
Before Nôses Kisik-Papimohtew, aka Roseanne Supernault, joined the cast of Acting Good, she starred in the horror film, Dark Nature. An indigenous and classically-trained actress, she has appeared in shows like Blackstone, where she played Natalie Stoney, and Maina, where she portrayed the titular character. She is one of the best things about Acting Good and appears in all ten episodes of the show’s first season.
Tina Keeper
A veteran actress and film producer of Cree descent, Tina Keeper is a six-time Gemini Award nominee for Best Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for her work on North of 60. She joined politics in 2006, having been elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2006 Canadian federal election. After her defeat in 2008, Keeper returned to acting and worked on Mohawk Girls, Heartland, Through Black Spruce, and Falls Around Her.
Avery Sutherland
Avery is one of the fresh talents that make up Acting Good‘s exciting cast. She’s a young indigenous actress who made her acting debut in 2022, on the show and in Stellar, a romantic drama with cosmic and environmental themes. Although she had a nameless role in the film, she appears in six episodes of Acting Good as Chickadee.
Erik Athavale
One of the few non-indigenous and experienced actors that appear on the show, Erik Athavale, plays Greg in the comedy series. Before landing the role, he appeared in Love Strikes Twice and played a detective in the Bob Odenkirk 2021 action thriller, Nobody. He’s also an acting coach and screenwriter and works as a marketing strategist when he’s not in front of the camera.
Alicia Johnston
Fans of the 2005 Ron Howard classic, Cinderella Man, may be familiar with Alicia Johnston. Or perhaps the slasher film, Orphan: First Kill, where she plays Karen. Or any of the over 38 movies and TV shows she has starred in since making her debut in 1986. She brings that wealth of experience to Acting Good as Miss Smith.
Joyce Delaronde
One of the lesser-known faces in Acting Good‘s cast is Joyce Delaronde. Like most of the actors in the series, she’s an indigenous actress. Joyce is also a standup comedian and she plays Mavis on the show. It’s her second appearance in a TV show, having only made her debut as Connie Francis in Taken in 2018.
Together with Lauren Cochrane (I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story), Paul Essiembre (The Ice Road), and Michael Strickland (A Brush with Christmas), they make up the show’s indigenous and likable cast. In other words, a mixture of experienced, young, and audacious performers. If you’re in the mood for a show with hilarious characters played by relatively unknowns and young upstarts, they make Acting Good a fun watch.
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