If you keep up with the Canadian comedy scene, or if you’ve seen shows such as The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and Best Week Ever, then it’s likely that you know who Sabrina Jalees is.
If you’re not familiar with the out comedian’s work then you soon will be as not only does she star in new gay film Portrait of a Serial Monogamist but she’s also a writer for the upcoming NBC sitcom, Crowded!
Portrait of a Serial Monogamist follows Elsie, a television producer who always finds herself in relationships and yet cannot recognise the fact that she’s a ‘serial monogamist’. Jalees’ character Sarah on the other hand, “thinks she knows everything about picking up women” but by the end of the movie, the comedian tells AfterEllen, Sarah is “not the player that she thought she was”.
Jalees explains to the publication that Sarah “does talk like she’s pretty smooth, but she also fucks up” and she also notes that the film was “made by and stars a lot of people in the queer community in Toronto”.
Queer films about honest queer characters that are made by actual queer people are hard to come by so it’s probably worth checking out Portrait of a Serial Monogamist during its run in select theatres.
As for her work on the small screen, NBC sitcom Crowded! will debut in March. Jalees explains that the show’s premise is that “two daughters move back in with their parents, who were just about to enjoy having the empty nest and all of a sudden everything’s crowded”.
Jalees also describes one of the daughters, Stella, as “sexually fluid” and that in the first episode that she writes on, Stella “makes out with a girl”.
Rather than being a cheap grab for views though, Jalees confirms that Stella’s fluidity “is part of her identity and she in the first season” and that “she’s very much open to dating more women in the second season”. Set your DVRs for Crowded!’s premiere on Sunday, March 20.
Other sections of the interview that are well worth reading include Jalees’ “unauthorized” beginnings in stand-up comedy as well as her thoughts on being a queer Muslim role model. She explains why she was hesitant to come out, how her parents supported her and how her career has grown since she made that decision.
