ExclusivesFeatured

“We’re playing human beings, who are also police officers. We get to see their humanity first.” – Supinder Wraich and Enrico Colantoni Preview the Second Season of Allegiance

allegiance supinder wraich enrico colantoni season 2 interview

The TV Watercooler had the opportunity to speak with Allegiance stars Supinder Wraich and Enrico Colantoni about the second season, which premieres this Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 9 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Supinder shares with us her thoughts on Sabrina’s journey in Season 2 as she becomes a Detective Constable in the Serious Crimes Unit, faces new challenges, a new partner and her determination to bring down the commission er who framed her father.

Enrico opens about some of the struggles Vince will face in his home life this season, his dream casting for Mrs. Brambilla, the 20th anniversary of Veronica Mars, and a likely renewal of his other hit series, English Teacher.

Supinder, what can you tell us about where Sabrina is at the start of season 2?

Supinder Wraich: We learned some pretty shocking things about what happened to Sabrina’s father and who she works for at the end of season one. So, when we enter season two, Sabrina is entering the Serious Crimes Unit where she’ll become a Detective Constable.

She’s entering a new world! But unlike season one, when she entered a world that was unknown to her, there’s a lot of elements this year that are known to here, and it’s kind of like “It’s the Devil you know,” where she has her eyes open to a lot of different things. So, we’ll see a more brazen, more confident, but angrier Sabrina!

There’s a lot of obstacles that she’ll come across throughout season two that are really going to challenge her. One being that she have her [former] partner by her side, so she doesn’t have the benefit of Vince’s experience or having access to his compassion all of the time.

It’ll be a different kind of growth that we’ll see for Sabrina this season.

allegiance supinder wraich enrico colantoni season 2 interview

.

She will get a new partner as Samer Salem (The Expanse) joins the cast as Detective Corporal Zak Kalaini. How will that relationship be different that the one she has with Vince?

Vince and Zak are two very different types of police officers. Both are quite accomplished, so I think it’s a different type of policing style and partnership. I think there’ll be a lot more conflict – but, I think that, even from personal experience, we know that a lot of growth comes out of conflict.

Sabrina and Zak are really going to face each other head on and Sabrina will grow in ways that you might not expect.

Although Sabrina’s got a new partner, we’ll still see Vince. Will we get to see some of Vince’s family life this season? He’s mentioned his wife and kids before, but we didn’t get to see them in Season 1.

Enrico Colantoni: No, but you’ll see a Vince who has been empowered [since the beginning of season one], a Vince who has rediscovered the love he has for his job and it’s not only from what he learns from Sabrina.

There will be a few episodes where Vince goes away because he’s off trying to save his marriage. We won’t get to see Mrs. Brambilla or any of his kids, but we’ll see him struggle with his home life while being a police officer.

Supinder Wraich: I would be really interested to know who they would cast as [his wife] Helena! We’ve learned so much about who Vince is, so it would be interesting to see who he picked for his partner [at home].

Any wishful casting for Helena Brambilla in Season 3?

 Enrico Colantoni: Julia Roberts!

Nice!

Enrico Colantoni: We’ve worked together before [in Steven Soderbergh’s Full Frontal]! She might do it! But I think that says something, an attractive middle-aged woman for him. I do see him as frumpy, but with great integrity and great heart. People would go, “Oh, that’s a beautiful woman, there must be a quality about him.”

Supinder Wraich: I’ve seen your partner, and she’s a smokeshow, and that says a lot about you.

Sabrina is determined to take down the man responsible for framing her father, Assistant Commissioner Campbell (Vincent Gale) – at which point do you think she’ll be able to trust Vince and bring him into this?

Supinder Wraich: I don’t think it’s necessarily Sabrina’s decision of when to bring Vince in, but I think just by virtue of working in the same organization as somebody who you have such opposite opinions with that eventually, they’ll need to be brought to the forefront. We very much see a progression happening over Season 2 of this foe and the planning of, “How do you go after somebody who not only has the power, but also the institution that they represent also has that power?”

And there could be more [of them]. So, if you get rid of one, does the next person just step in and replace them? The enemy is not just the individual. The enemy is the belief system, or the way of thinking. And that’s much mightier foe to fight. So, it just doesn’t happen over the course of one season!

Even though Sabrina and Vince aren’t partners this season, will they still have more scenes together so that we can see that protectiveness that Vince has for Sabrina shine through?

Enrico Colantoni: Yeah, the authority line are clearer now. She’s become my boss, so it’s wonderful to see that because the divide is clear, so when we do have those scenes, they’re precious. They’re precious for the characters and especially precious for me as the actor.

So, I love those scenes and they are spread out throughout the season. You never lose who they are to each other, even though she’s exploding in her genius and he’s rediscovering his love for the job. There’s still a father/daughter dynamic.

Which, I think TV fans love to see you play the father role because we all still love Papa Mars.

Enrico Colantoni: Yeah, yeah… I got that guy in my hip pocket! But it’s also who you get to work with. When you come from a place of love, and you get love back!

What drew you to this role? You’ve played a cops before on Veronica Mars and Flashpoint.

Enrico Colantoni: They are different police officers. Vince is frumpy. Parker [from Flashpoint] was cool and he had a team behind him. He was confident. Vince is scared and he’s worried for Sabrina, cares for somebody and cares for his own livelihood, and his own well-being. He’s afraid. He sees death on the street and he panics. If Sabrina is in trouble, he panics. He’s not Parker. Vince understands that the uniform doesn’t protect you. It’s not a cape that protects you. We’re still human and we’re still vulnerable.

allegiance supinder wraich enrico colantoni season 2 interview

Supinder, what drew you to the role of Sabrina? You’ve played strong women before – Aqsa was so headstrong in Sort Of and your character in 410 was also another strong woman. Was it the strength that you saw in Sabrina that drew you in?

Supinder Wraich: I think it was a lot of things. One was Anar Ali, who created the show. She’s a friend and somebody who I’m a fan of, so to be part of a world that she was creating drew me to that work because I trust her so much, as a storyteller.

Enrico Colantoni: She wrote it for you, too! Well, she hoped that it would be you.

Supinder Wraich: Yeah, you never know with casting! I think in particular Sabrina’s struggle to prove herself as a minority woman within the force [drew me in]. As well as the opportunity to play a leading role. I had never done that before in this capacity – it was a challenge.

All of those were big draws in terms of growth opportunity. One of the best things about being a “number one” [on the call sheet] of a show as an artist and an actor, is that you get to do [the scene] again, again, and again [until it’s just right]. Being a number six, or seven, you may get to play a great part, but in television we shoot so fast that you don’t get to build the same skillset. You may get to be in ten scenes that are shot across five days, so you come in and say your words and then you go home whereas with this role, you get an opportunity to really hone that craft that I’m grateful for.

Enrico Colantoni: The confidence she shows as an actor in Season 2… I’ve never seen her so comfortable and confident.

Supinder Wraich: That’s because in Season 1, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I didn’t know how much support I would have. Now in Season 2, I’ve got the director, the co-star, the hair and makeup, and anybody who is there to literally life you. So, knowing that we have this wonderful crew this year from hair, makeup, wardrobe, scripts, cast, props, sets – that stuff goes a long way in just holding you… but then you have to know your lines! [Laughs]

allegiance supinder wraich enrico colantoni season 2 interview

Allegiance is dealing with a big topical issue right now with what is going on in Canada with the Anti-Indian and Anti-Punjabi sentiment. How do you approach the responsibility of tackling that issue?

Supinder Wraich: Here’s what I’ll say it to that, I know I’ve heard from you too, Enrico – in a show that is about the police, you always get this question of, “Is it real? Is it not real? How well of a job are you doing depicting the police force and the everyday practices?”

Enrico would always say, “It’s science-fiction! What we’re doing here is storytelling” But with a show like Allegiance, what’s great about it is that we’re not playing police officers, we’re playing human beings, who are also police officers. We get to see their humanity first.

So, what I can say about what’s happening in politics right now is that I hope everybody can see our humanity before seeing our religion.

On a lighter note, 2024 was the 20th anniversary of Veronica Mars, why do you feel that the show still holds such resonance after all these years?

Enrico Colantoni: It’s the little train that could! At that time, it was on a newer network and young women loved seeing a heroine like that. She was Nancy Drew in the modern world. That age group wanted to see her character and her relationship with her dad.

Veronica Mars was smart and funny. Rob Thomas understands that world, and that young audience. I’m still trying to figure out the secret sauce, but maybe it was the combination of Kristen Bell and the writing?

It’s also the fun that you have doing something… When you talk about responsibility [to the audience]. I don’t know what will land or what doesn’t. We just have to bring what we bring and everything else is up to them – it’s up to the audience and it’s up to the network.

You watch a show, and you go, “I love these characters.”

And we love to go back to them. You’re able to balance the comedy and drama so well. English Teacher was hilarious! Are you doing Season 2?

Enrico Colantoni: We’ve been getting quite a few nominations for some cool things! I think they’re holding off on the announcement for now.

Have you seen Brian Jordan Alvarez’s dances on TikTok? Would you ever do one?

Enrico Colantoni: It’s hysterical. It’s gone viral and I’m thinking of doing one where I take my shirt off and I just sit there stoically, but I won’t do it!

Allegiance airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC and streams on CBC Gem.

Shares:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Captcha: * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.