Sabrina Jalees knows comedy from every angle. The Canadian actor and writer has spent years moving between stand-up and TV, bringing her perspective as a queer Muslim woman to credits on Big Mouth, Search Party and Harley Quinn, while appearing onscreen in projects like Carol’s Second Act, Black Mirror and I Used to Be Funny.
Now, she’s stepping into a role in the highly anticipated second season of Heated Rivalry. Behind the scenes, Jalees is just as busy: she created the upcoming Netflix comedy Toxic Moms, starring Ashley Tisdale and executive produced by Ali Wong, and is currently writing a film for Amazon about a “fucked up” father-daughter relationship set in the world of pickleball.
For DRAFTING, Jalees opens up the projects and ideas still taking shape, alongside the in-between moments of life that inevitably find their way into the work.
This is a map that a witch in Mexico drew for my wife, Shauna, who was getting her tarot cards read after I had taken a surf lesson from this gorgeous man that I asked to be my sperm donor and he said yes. So the witch had drawn this map and it was a place she was supposed to sit on the beach to manifest our first son, Wolfie. The map worked, the jizz worked.
Now I’m writing a movie about finding the balls to become a parent, all puns intended. Does anyone have a title for me? I was gonna call it Jizzness Trip, but that feels like a porn. And it’s sort of just this sweet, beautiful story that’s taken me so long to write. Because wow, when you try to map a movie on a glorious, treasured part of your life, things get kind of precious. So I’ve been on this long journey in writing the movie where I’ve realized I have to fictionalize some stuff. I’ve had to break from the truth to get deeper into the truth. So here’s a page from the movie.
My wife just got a CD player, and we've been hosting salons at night with strobe lights and old mix tapes. Remember that song “In The Morning” by the Junior Boys? I didn't either, but now it's on repeat. And from this era I'm loving “Sabali (Miike Snow Remix).” My style is to choose one song and repeat it for weeks until it feels like I've lost my mind. If you really want to feel like you're on the verge of being 51/50'd, do this with “Mr. Sandman” [by The Chordettes].
This Note pairs with a photo of Rowan in the carousel in Puerto Vecchio this July. My heart was so full I needed to create this nightmare and jot it down, I guess. If I wrote myself a Liam Neeson Taken movie, it’d start like this.
My office in Eagle Rock. I have two candles burning — nice candles make me feel like I made it and I’m luxurious. I have one pickleball. I've fully converted from tennis to pickleball, which I know is like a runner leaving the marathon world to pursue speed walking — but I care not, I’m addicted. There’s a picture of myself writing as a kid, a tub of purple Play-Doh, and a stack of papers I keep stacking and never sorting. Oh, and pens. Pens galore, babe.
These squishy toys. We recently had Dan Levy on our podcast, Good Enough, and he was complaining about the amount of squishy toys his family had collected. He brought one in and by the end of the podcast I was full heroin addict longing for the touch and squeeze of this fake bread baguette made of heaven. Don’t think I don’t know about the news stories rolling out where kids end up with 20 degree burns from the hot squishies being left in cars and exploding. For some reason, the danger factor is making me more attracted. I have like seven in my cart right now, and I do feel it’s only a matter of time before I cave and invest.
The day we picked up our “purebred Frenchie,” Cowboy, from a farm full of Boston terriers. As it turns out, he’s also a Boston.
When Ali Wong invites you to the basketball game, you’re in the good seats and you get to clean out the extra snacks in the suite without shame.
My superqueer sperm-seeking comedy is called PROCREATION, INC. Let’s do a double feature.