Supinder Wraich plays Sabrina Sohal in Allegiance.Supplied
If Hollywood – or Mattel – ever needed an actor to play police officer Barbie, Supinder Wraich would be a shoo-in, or maybe that should be a shoe in. She has, well, the footwear for it. A pair of silver boots with an invisible heel give an illusion of Wraich floating as she strides into the room. Her chic jacket suit is nothing like a buttoned-up police uniform, but it is regulation navy blue – appropriate given her lead role as rookie cop Sabrina Sohal in the CBC police procedural Allegiance that releases Wednesday.
“Anar called them my Barbie boots,” she says, referring to series creator Anar Ali (Transplant). At first Wraich didn’t understand the reference. “I said, ‘They’re not pink.’ She’s like, ‘Because Barbie’s heels eventually come down. Yours aren’t down yet.’ I love that.”
A rising star in the industry, Wraich has her feet planted on solid ground, however. She had a significant role in the critically acclaimed series Sort Of, as lead character Sabi Mehboob’s no-nonsense sister Aqsa. Prior to that, Wraich wrote and starred in the CBC Gem series The 410 (2019), in which she played an aspiring social-media influencer turned reluctant criminal Suri. The gritty independent series was remarkable in its depiction of the Punjabi community in a crime drama set in suburban Toronto, offering a sophisticated plot that went beyond bhangra performances and butter chicken.
Allegiance is diametrically opposite – both in theme and execution. It’s an aspirational show featuring a cast of complex and contemporary characters, whose backstories could have been a history lesson. In the opening episode Sabrina (Wraich) is set to graduate from the police academy with honours. Sabrina’s father and minister of public safety Ajeet Sohal (Stephen Lobo) is invited to preside over the ceremony. However, just as Sabrina is about to give her valedictorian speech, her father is arrested on charges of treason. Sabrina must now serve as an officer in the same system that has arrested her father, grappling with its limits as she struggles with her duties both as a daughter and a police officer.
“There’s something about this relationship between the father and daughter. This is a family who’s been in service for generations. I thought that was really cool. Because I have never seen Sikh Punjabi history on screen, forget the fact that I have never seen a family like this, right?” she says, making note of Ajeet’s role as a suave and media savvy politician.
“I was born in India, and moved here when I was a kid. So I don’t know what it’s like to come from a family who has that history of being here. But what I understand is that feeling of shame, around your skin colour. … That was something I could latch on to, something I could fight for.”
Enrico Colantoni, left, as Vince Brambilla: 'I’ve seen him in Flashpoint and all these things, and he was just sitting there. So I asked him, ‘Hey, can we work this scene together?’ And we did. I remember just staring at him. He was so good,' says Wraich about turning up at a casting call for the role.Supplied
When she first got wind of the part, Wraich explains, she didn’t see herself in the role of Sabrina. Wraich and Ali had met almost a decade ago at the Canadian Film Centre; Wraich was there for the actors’ conservatory, Ali was part of the writers’ program. Even though Sabrina offered Wraich a rare chance for a lead role on a network TV show, the character’s naiveté gave her pause. Nevertheless, Wraich turned up at a casting call for the show and met Enrico Colantoni, who plays veteran training officer Vince Brambilla.
“I’ve seen him in Flashpoint and all these things, and he was just sitting there. So I asked him, ‘Hey, can we work this scene together?’ And we did. I remember just staring at him. He was so good. I thought, if I get to work with him, maybe it will make me a better actor. It’s like in any career. You want to work with people who are better than you,” she says.
Besides learning some sneaky tips such as writing lines in your police notebook when you have to tear through scene after scene, working with Colantoni also offered deeper insights on the show. During the making, Wraich was looking at the storyline from the perspective of her own character. But conversations with Colantoni gave her a chance to think about the broken justice system. His role as a jaded cop looking to retire playing off Sabrina’s naiveté raised the question: What does it take to make real change?
Allegiance, for example, explores themes such as restorative justice or what a police force could look like. Wraich jokes about how her character always approached a tense situation with the line, “Hey guys, can we talk?”
“There’s a hope we can do better,” she says, speaking of the police force depicted in the series, which includes women and people of colour as authority figures. “I understand it’s a woke police force. But we have characters that aren’t woke. We have this guy who’s at the end of his career. And Sabrina who’s just at the beginning and has all this hope – and opens his eyes to the light.
“At the end of the day we want to … make you feel like, okay, there are things that are wrong in the world. But there are people out there trying to do good.”
Special to The Globe and Mail