Nadine Bhabha on Doing it Yourself

Actor, poet, writer, comedian; Nadine Bhabha really does it all. Whether you’ve seen her on the newest season of This Hour Has 22 Minutes or as Bianca in LetterKenny, Bhabha has carved out a space for herself. I talked with her about writing, comedy, and following your passions.

How did you develop your comedic voice?

Being the eldest child started it all. I was always cracking jokes to ease tension…or create tension. I mean, that’s for my therapist to decide.

People have said theatre school is the worst place in the world for mental health, but it gave me such a good foundation, especially going in at 22 years old. When you have a foundation of training, everything comes easily. I was gifted comedy from somewhere in my family, so that mixed with the training and being a motor mouth. People always say I talk so fast and I think that’s my charm. It’s why shows like LetterKenny were so fun, because that quick pace aligns with my internal rhythm.

What’s your writing process?

I always add a wash of comedy to my writing. How I like to digest media is with a spoon full of sugar. Even if it’s heavy subject matter, I like to have a beat of comedy to break the tension.

My poetry book, sweat, came out of the need to just get feelings out. I went through a breakup that stirred up a lot of other things where I felt alone and lost. I wrote them down to try not to bore my friends with it. When I saw how much poetry I had, I realized oh it could be a book. The easiest way at the time to self-publish was through Amazon, which if you ask me now, I wouldn’t necessarily use. I had a couple people read it, formatted it the way I wanted, and had a little hope that it was going to fly.

How do you stay motivated?

I am constantly trying to prove to myself that I belong here, and I have only now achieved the level of “kind of” belong here. As beautiful and creatively fulfilling as this industry can be, it’s also cold and harsh. Getting kicked out theatre school the first time at 18 was a blessing in disguise. Most people in that situation would quit, but I went the opposite way. I had been thinking about acting my entire life and that was just one door that’s closed. It lit a fire under me. I’m grateful for that early rejection because it thickened my skin while I was still malleable.

What’s the best piece of advice that you have?

One of my friends once said, “don’t take anything personally, both positive and negative.” The positive you want to hold on to for dear life and the negative can really affect you. Give the criticism and praise coming your way its time, but don’t dwell on it. Accept a positive idea of yourself and don’t get affected by how others see you and it’ll help you move forward.

I love other people, but they also don’t matter. People’s opinions of you are always just a reflection of what they think about themselves usually. They’re projecting onto you, good and bad, so you have to have such a clear sense of self, especially in an industry that is so subjective in order to wake up every day.