Canadian stars to appear on ‘Little Mosque’
TORONTO – “Little Mosque on the Prairie” kicks off its second season Wednesday on a definite high.
The show is starting to air in countries around the globe while a roster of beloved Canadian personalities are showing up this year in the fictional Prairie town of Mercy.
Dave Foley of “Kids in the Hall” and “Newsradio” fame is slated to appear on the popular CBC sitcom, as is Samantha Bee from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and Darcy Tucker, the pugnacious Toronto Maple Leaf winger who will appear as himself.
At a recent lunch at a Moroccan restaurant in downtown Toronto, the cast was relaxed and chatty after just wrapping up season two in Regina and Toronto.
“It’s been the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” said Sheila McCarthy, who plays Sarah Hamoudi, a convert to Islam who’s turned out to be more devout than her husband, Yasir.
That’s quite a compliment coming from one of Canada’s most celebrated actresses – McCarthy has won two Geminis, two Genies and two Doras throughout her prolific 25-year acting career on stage and screen.
“When these little projects come up from out of the blue that are completely different from anything you’ve ever done, it’s just great,” says McCarthy, who will soon be seen in the “The Stone Angel,” which premiered at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
McCarthy, 51, says she’s proud to be in a TV show with a gentle message of tolerance and understanding as it’s poised to air in some of the world’s most troubled hotspots, including Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
“My mother knows what Ramadan is now,” McCarthy says with a laugh. “I feel very lucky to be the visible minority in this show, and I’m proud to be in something that has a little bit of weight.
“We’re knocking down stereotypes, and the show is growing and developing in good ways, and I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
“Little Mosque” proved to be a prime-time ratings saviour for the struggling CBC last winter, routinely drawing an audience of about a million people per show for its truncated eight-episode season.
The network poached two key writing and production figures from CTV’s “Corner Gas” in the spring, and has high hopes the show will sustain its audience this season with a full 20-show slate.
Season two will feature not only cameos from Canadian personalities but also a Christmas Eve special and a look at the back stories of some favourite “Little Mosque” characters, including Amaar’s complex relationship with his mother back in Toronto.
“There will also be a quick glimpse into something hilarious that happened in his past,” says Zaib Shaikh who, as the only Muslim in the cast, was observing Ramadan and forgoing feasting on lamb and chicken with the rest of his castmates on a warm September afternoon.
For Carlo Rota, who also plays Morris on the dark and intense American megahit “24,” “Little Mosque” offers him some sweet relief.
“It’s the absolute best; it’s the best of all worlds,” said the 46-year-old Rota, who was born in London but spent many years working as an actor in Toronto. “The adage ‘to those that have much is given’ is applying to me right now.
“I just hope it lasts and I can continue to appreciate it. Life is fleeting, and your fame is fleeting too.”
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