When I saw Josette Jorge win a Canadian Screen Award earlier this year, I was overjoyed to see a fellow Asian Pacific Islander friend receive such recognition. An actor, writer, and educator based in Toronto, Josette earned her first Canadian Screen Award in 2025 for Best Supporting Performer in a Children’s or Youth Program for Ruby and the Well. Last year, my producing partner Cindy Au Yeung and I also received a Canadian Screen Award—Best Comedy Special—for our series Comedy Invasion.
Quentin Lee: I’m so excited today. I’m Quentin Lee, and I am here with Josette Jorge, a Filipinx actor, performer, writer, and educator who just won her first Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Performer in a Children’s Youth Program, Ruby and the Well, and also I know you’ve nominated for multiple CSAs and also Leo Award, so thank you so much for coming.
Josette Jorge: It’s my pleasure.
Quentin Lee: Yeah. So congratulations. I know you won it this year and I won it last year.
Josette Jorge: Yes. Here.
Quentin Lee: It’s heavy. So anyways, so tell us, what was the feeling of that moment of winning? What was it like? Do you believe it?
Josette Jorge: Well, I’ve never had an experience like this before. It was my first time at the CSAs, so that in itself was such a feeling of entering that room with the big crowd and seeing the stage. So that in itself was quite new to me. But actually hearing my name said as the winner was… Yeah, it was definitely something that I’ll remember because I remember my heart just beating out of my chest. I felt like it came out of my mouth, and I went, “Oh, okay,” and I jumped up… I didn’t realize what I was doing at the time, but seeing the footage afterwards, I jumped up and practically ran on the stage. I don’t know why I was such in a rush, but I think that excitement and that wave of excitement carried me up there. Yeah.
Quentin Lee: Wow. So, yeah, because I think for this year, the past year, 2025, it was covered really well, and really, for our year, which was 2024, and we couldn’t even get any footage, and I don’t think they covered all the TV awards or whatever. So, yeah. So it’s definitely you’re in a really great place. And I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about what was that nomination process like and what was the journey from submitting and things like that?
Josette Jorge: Yes. Well, I know that when I first started and heard about award season and everything, I just assumed that people got chosen. Some power from above chose them to be nominated. And then I was invited to be a juror on the ACTRA Awards for voice. And so I did that two years in a row, and then I realized that a lot of people were self submitting, and that really broke that myth that I had in my head that someone has to do it for me, some power from above has to do it for me.
So I submitted the following year. So two years doing jury work for the ACTRA Awards, and then I thought, “I wonder what would happen if I just submit myself.” So I submit myself to the ACTRA Awards and the Canadian Screen Awards for 2025, and I said, “Okay, well, let’s see what happens.” So I think it started because I was a juror and also social media people posting about the deadlines for submission, and that just got my wheels turning and said, “Well, I don’t have to wait for someone to do it for me. I’ll just do it on my own and see what happens.”
Quentin Lee: And did you also win the ACTRA Award?
Josette Jorge: No. No, I didn’t. I actually didn’t even make the shortlist for ACTRA-
Quentin Lee: Oh, no. But you made the shortlist for CSA. That’s even better.
Josette Jorge: Yeah. That’s the funny thing, right? I’m still learning about how to play the game, as they say, of the awards season. And I talk to people about this all the time, just breaking that barrier, that myth that people, artists have in their head saying that, “Someone has to do it for me.” No, you have to champion yourself sometimes too.
Quentin Lee: I totally agree. And then so talking about your other projects, and I know that you’re also a writer, and you also… Were you nominated for CSA before as a writer also?
Josette Jorge: No, just this year. So this year, first time-
Quentin Lee: Oh, you got multiple nominations. Wow.
Josette Jorge: Yeah. So I self-submitted for three awards, and then in the morning, my husband woke me up with, “Good Morning, three-time-nominated CSA,” and I went, “Excuse me? What are you talking about?” Because I didn’t know. I didn’t know that I would be three for three for nominations. So I got nominated for voice acting, and I got nominated for writing for animation.
Quentin Lee: And how did you get into writing? Because I know you more as a performer, and how was that? What was that like?
Josette Jorge: Yes. Well, as a performer, I’ve read thousands of scripts, right? And I’ve been fortunate to work a lot in children’s television as well. So I thought I was very familiar with the scripts. And then COVID happened and there was an opportunity to join kids’ bootcamp run by BIPOC Film and TV. So Nathalie Younglai, who runs BIPOC Film and TV, is a colleague of mine, and she posted something on social media. And it was COVID time, and I just had a baby, and I went, “Well, yeah, might as well. Let’s see what happens.”
So I did the class, and that was run by John May. And then when the class was done, I had already a pilot script of my own, learned so much about the structure of writing. I mean, I wrote for theater for many years, and I wrote sketch comedy for many years. So I had that under my belt already. But learning the structure of TV writing, I felt I learned from John May. And then he put out a call to the people, just an open call for anybody who wants to submit their writing for a new show that he was doing, Galapagos X. Submitted my stuff, yeah, and he liked my work, so he hired me to be a writer on Galapagos X.
Quentin Lee: Wow, congratulations. Do you plan to write more or what are your thoughts?
Josette Jorge: I do. Well, I loved it. I love writing, I love creating. I always have. Even though as a performer, I feel that’s the path that I took and that’s the path that the universe is taking me on, but in theater school, I went to Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, in Burnaby, BC, and my teachers really encouraged us to create our own work. So as a performer, I was always also creating my own work, whether that was sketch comedy or short films, I was always writing. So I feel like for me, at least, my journey as an artist, they always went hand in hand. So, yeah, any opportunities to write, I’m always down for that.
Quentin Lee: So you grew up in Vancouver, and let’s talk a little bit about the background of you being also growing up Filipino and API. API. API in Vancouver, what was it like and how did you make that step into the creative industry performing thing?
Josette Jorge: It’s interesting because, Filipino communities, it’s no secret that we love performing. We love our karaoke. At family gatherings, it was always like, “Play piano for your titas,” or the karaoke machine was always out. So it was always around me. Right? Entertainment was always around me. Nobody in my family did it professionally, but we did it for fun on Sundays after church. And the interesting thing about me though, as a kid, although I liked doing the performing, I was actually shy. And even now, some people are surprised to hear that I’m actually an introvert. I have the tools to be an extrovert, but naturally, I like being quiet. And so that’s why I was as a kid. And so my parents put me in acting classes to help me get out of my shell.
So I remember there was a girl in my preschool who was very outgoing, and my mom asked her mom, “What is she doing?” And she’d be like, “Oh, she takes these courses at Arts Umbrella at Granville Island.” And so my mom signed me up for those acting classes, and little did they know, I fell in love with it. So that led to me doing some commercials when I was a kid. But then I feel like I was a kid. I just went along with whatever happened. And then in high school, I started doing the musicals. I started auditioning for the school plays. And I felt at that moment, I really took ownership of, “Wow, I actually really, really like this. This is something that I want to do for the rest of my life.” So it was the high school plays really that started it off for me.
Quentin Lee: And then you went to Simon Fraser and you studied also performance and writing. And then how did you make that step going from being a student or just have the aspiration, but stepping into it professionally?
Josette Jorge: Well, when I went to theater school, I thought I was only going to do theater. I actually thought I wanted to do musicals, because I love them. Right? So I just wanted to do theater. And one of my theater teachers, my voice teacher, Lisa Beley, she pulled me aside one day after class and she said, “Have you ever thought of doing film and TV because I think you would be great for that.” And I went, “No, no. Theater is my passion. I don’t know if I want to do that.” And then it just kept calling me. I did a short film for a friend who also went to SFU, Rick Lee. It was a horror film, one of those 24-hour film festivals. And I played the lead in that.
And then an agent who was at the film festival contacted me and asked if I wanted to start film and TV. And again, I said no. “No, I’m only going to focus on theater. I’m a theater artist.” And then my cousin asked me to drive her twin daughters to a commercial audition because she was at work and she couldn’t. So I drove them to an audition, waited in the audition room, and the casting director said, “You, can you come in and audition for their mom?” And I went, “Okay, fine. Yeah, I’ll do it.” Ended up booking the role for the commercial, and I went, “Okay, three times, let’s see what happens with this.” And then signed with an agent, and then started doing some commercials, some one-liners on TV. And then my career built from there. And I still did theater, but I felt like film was what kept me busy.
Quentin Lee: And then why did you just start to move to Toronto? I know you moved here for a TV show, right? And you pretty much stayed and…
Josette Jorge: Yes, that’s right. So my husband… Well, he was my boyfriend at the time. We were always talking about moving from Vancouver and trying another city, whether that be LA or Toronto, just feeling the vibe of another city for the film industry and never really making the move to do it because our family was in Vancouver, it was very comfortable. Our parents would cook us food and deliver it on the weekends. We had it pretty sweet in Vancouver.
And the week he proposed, I got a call back for a kids’ TV show called Stanley Dynamic on YTV. And so flew to Toronto for the final callback, the chemistry read. And I say it’s the week that he proposed because there was something… I was probably giddy, I was probably glowing, I don’t know. Some magical thing was happening that helped me book this kids’ show. And it was a comedy, it was a multi-cam sitcom. In fact, it was almost a dream because it was a combo of theater and film with a multi-cam live studio audience type of style. So I ended up booking Stanley Dynamic and moving here to Toronto probably two weeks after he proposed. Yeah.
Quentin Lee: Oh, wow. In terms of work and industry, do you find there’s a difference between Toronto and Vancouver or BC and Ontario since you’ve been both? What are your thoughts about that?
Josette Jorge: Well, I can only speak for my own experience, but I found when I was auditioning in Vancouver, it was a lot of sci-fi, CW, superhero, probably more of the darker things that were happening. Although I did do a multi-cam sitcom in Vancouver called Mr. Young, which I know definitely led me to Stanley Dynamic, the job in Toronto. But when I compare the things that I auditioned for in Vancouver versus the things that I auditioned for in Toronto, I found that my strengths, especially in comedy, I could really showcase better here in Toronto. I also feel that there’s more Canadian work here as well. So as far as booking things in Vancouver, I was happy with the actor roles, the principal roles, the occasional guest star roles that I would get in Vancouver, but I felt like in Toronto, because it’s Canadian work, there were a lot more opportunities to audition for bigger parts, bigger roles, recurring things. So-
Quentin Lee: So it seems like what you’re saying is that there’s more Canadian original content happening in Toronto, and then in Vancouver, it’s mostly the servicing, the American productions situation.
Josette Jorge: Of course, that’s a generalization. Lots of great Canadian work happens in Vancouver as well. But I found for me, at least, I was going out for bigger roles here in Toronto, and I noticed the difference was there were Canadian-produced shows.
Quentin Lee: Yeah. Well, thank you for being honest, because I think that’s important for people to hear. And so now what are your next things going on that you won a CSA and how do you think you’ll capitalize on this award?
Josette Jorge: Well, like I said, it’s all new to me and I’m learning from other people, other winners like yourself, how you can capitalize from it. Of course, talk to my agent. She said it is an excellent talking point to get me in the door. My phone’s not ringing off the hook with direct offers or anything like that, and it’s not life-changing yet, but I find that I am getting a handful more auditions, roles that I don’t think that I would be considered for from casting directors. I think they are maybe taking more of a chance on me because of the hardware. I don’t know. But even just at the after-party… We were talking earlier about how heavy this thing is.
Quentin Lee: I know.
Josette Jorge: But at the after-party, I was, again, as a newcomer, looking around seeing what people are doing. The winners never let go of this thing. They [inaudible 00:15:28].
Quentin Lee: Yeah. We should be holding onto it.
Josette Jorge: Yeah, yeah. They had a drink in one hand and this in the other hand, and I went, “Okay, okay, learning as I go. All right.” So I felt that this gave me a sense of confidence, whether it was true or not, it was like the alcohol and the hardware helped me just go up and introduce myself to people I would not introduce myself to, or people would come and congratulate me because I was holding this thing. I’m going to put it down now because it’s heavy.
And I feel like these conversations started happening. People that I used to work with would come up with me and say, “Oh, my gosh, I would love to work with you again,” and I said, “Likewise.” So I feel like those connections, that conversation, when I say a person who’s naturally an introvert like me, it made it easier to walk through the after-party, which was just a big networking opportunity and really showcase myself confidently and proudly. So I feel like that’s what the award has done for me and my agent, it helps me get into the room a little bit more and… I’ll keep you posted. I don’t know-
Quentin Lee: Yeah. I thought the same way because, it’s funny, we actually beat three other CBC series for my year, for best comedy specials. So I actually saw the CBC exec and I just shook her hand.
Josette Jorge: Right? Exactly.
Quentin Lee: And they turned us down. I have one last question, which is what is one advice you would give to someone who wants to start becoming a performer, someone who is BIPOC and who’s Canadian, and what should they do? What is the advice you’d give them?
Josette Jorge: Well, it’s funny because I am now in the position where I’m being a mentor to a lot of young BIPOC, especially Asian women, who contact me and say, “Hey, do you have time for a coffee? And if you have any advice, you want to chat?” So I find that, all in all, the thing that I say to all of them is what really drives me is the love of it. For better or for worse. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows. It’s not always this all the time. For the most of the time, it’s rejection. And it’s rejection sometime based on heartbreaking things. And the reality is I have been turned down for roles or, dare I say, replaced for white women or younger women. Right?
So I tell them the truth of what I’ve experienced from my personal experience, but also the positive part of it is what drives me is the love of it. If I didn’t love it, if it wasn’t my passion like it was in high school when I was doing the musicals, if I didn’t have that, I don’t think I would keep doing it. So that’s what I keep telling them. “I see the love, I see the passion in you right now. Just keep taking care of that. Keep harnessing that, whatever it is for you. So if it’s taking an acting class, if it’s exercise, if it’s having a family, whatever makes your life richer so that you can also maintain that passion in the arts, I feel is so important because there’s lots of dark and stormy moments in this career,” as I am sure you know that as well, “But live your life, have other passions so that it feeds your artist passion.”
Quentin Lee: Thank you very much.
Follow Josette Jorge on Instagram!
