Pickle Barrel
FOR MANY MEN, Sitara Hewitt meets
the definition of an ideal woman.
Beautiful and brainy with a love of
poker and professional wrestling,
what more could a guy ask for?
But the former Deepa Mehta muse is also a unique up-andcoming face on Canadian television, consistently appearing on popular game shows and adding wry, surprising commentary to sports and men’s programming.
“I like to think I know how to market myself,” she says.
“In a way, I’m my own small business owner.”
Hewitt is currently the co-host of The Comedy Network’s exciting new You Bet Your Ass, a saucy game show beginning Oct. 9, where contestants make wagers on their ability to answer pop-culture trivia questions.
She’s also had memorable turns on the likes of Gutterball Alley, CTV Sportsnet’s Playtime and the poker themed Double Down.
From her seat on the patio of the Village’s Future Bakery and Café, Hewitt says she’s aware she’s cast as the archetypical game show babe, and enjoys bucking expectations every day in her work.
“I have no problem playing the sexy girl,” says Hewitt, who was born outside the Pakistani city of Lahore, and would spend three to four months each year living with her mother in mud huts. Clearly there’s more to this actress than first meets the eye.
“I mean, you only get to play that role once in your life, so why not?”
The producers of You Bet Your Ass must follow the same line of thought: On the show, she’s every bit the show woman Vanna White is on Wheel of Fortune, only Hewitt winkingly says cheekier catch phrases with a crooked smile at every opportunity she gets.
As one can imagine, “edge” is what separates You Bet Your Ass from more tame quiz shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Howie Mandel’s ratings smash Deal or No Deal (Deal was NBC’s toprated show of 2005).
With her obvious “guy” appeal, Hewitt is a large part of the show’s hopes for ratings success.
But she’s also not just a pretty face and a couture “Will Work for Diamonds” T-shirt; it takes a good deal of skill to host a television show. For Hewitt, that’s a big part of the new show’s appeal.
“It’s not having inhibitions or second thoughts and just going for it. You have to be comfortable with your choices,” says Hewitt of her oncamera decisions.
“It’s not easy, but I really enjoy the challenge.”
A significant part of her role as the co-host — especially since she’s often in front of a live studio audience — is improvisation. This is where Hewitt excels.
Being comfortable (or at least looking comfortable) in often nonscripted exchanges with You Bet Your Ass host and veteran comedian Stewart Francis (of CBC’s Geminiwinning An American in Canada) is a definite asset.
Being quick on her feet with dialogue, as it turns out, is something Hewitt seems to have a handle on even outside the studio: Within earshot of the Future patio was a clearly inebriated man (still holding a king can, in fact) blaring obscenities at high volume.
Not easily distracted, Hewitt remarked: “He must still think it’s Friday night.”
It’s a knack for timing that she says helps in all aspects of her performing career. Along with her hosting talents, Hewitt is a dancer, stage performer, movie actress and model. As a dancer, Hewitt literally has learned exactly how to go with the flow.
She toured Canada as a backup dancer with former hip hop queen Foxxy Brown and showed off her moves in nightclubs.
“I have always been able to move really well,” she says.
“I think I just learned to adapt from that.”
And adapt she did.
After getting steady work dancing, Hewitt began appearing in commercials and eventually theatre. She took the title role of Mona in the Bollywood hit Mona Darling and then starred as Tina in the dinner theatre show Tony and Tina’s Wedding.
But it’s her modelling career where she’s making perhaps the most significant strides. Her new UMM photo spread was filmed by eTalk, and is set to hit magazine stands in the fall.
Her continued focus, however, is acting. And a huge part of her success as an actress comes from her parents: Not only did she inherit stunning good looks but also a diverse Welsh and Pakistani heritage, of which she is quite proud.
Her South Asian connection, combined with a fiercely popular film industry in that part of the world, has helped her to become a fledgling Bollywood star.
She’s followed Bollywood — the nickname for a musical style of South Asian feature films — since she was young.
Her mother, a university professor who studies women in developing regions, used to take her to impoverished areas to teach her the hard truths about life. Hewitt learned early not to take anything for granted.
By keeping in tune with her Pakistani background, Hewitt has been able to land parts in Canadianmade Bollywood films such as The Look-a-like and her neighbour Deepa Mehta’s popular movie Bollywood/Hollywood.
Although her films are relative box-office hits, she isn’t looking to take a shot at Bollywood stardom — even though it’s the genre she grew up with.
“I wouldn’t want to be a struggling actress in India. There aren’t a whole lot of jobs here, but it’s much harder there,” she says.
And after moving around so much in her youth, Hewitt would rather stick to her cozy Toronto digs in the area than move to another neighbourhood, let alone another country.
“I moved to High Park once, and I absolutely hated it. I was miserable living there,” she says.
“I knew right away that this area is where I need to be.”
But one recent trip to Atlanta, Ga., has Hewitt considering not only moving around to different cities but perhaps moving into another profession.
Like the popular Trish Status before her, she tried out to be a WWE wrestling star.
This fall, Hewitt steps into the ring to try her wrestling character out on Toronto fans. But as much as the WWE is about acting — she calls it “physical theatre” — she knows it’s a shade different than Tony and Tina’s Wedding.
For her next tryout, she’s prepared to take a little abuse.
“I’m not just acting. I actually wrestle a guy!” says Hewitt of her sometimes demanding WWE stint.
Whether or not she’ll earn fame as a professional wrestler doesn’t appear to be something she’s overly worried about this morning at the Future Bakery and Café. Whatever happens, she says she’s made a commitment to performing.
“I absolutely love the work. I love it,” she gushes.
And with her diehard passion for her work comes a healthy selfassuredness: She’s very confident that she can make a career in showbiz. Whether it’s on game shows, dance floors, live theatre, or in Canadian-made big-budget Bollywood films.
So next time you see her on the
patio at the Future Bakery and
Café, just ask her to riff on the
colourful clientele. 
The Fine Print: The contents of www.postcitymagazines.com are copyright 2009, all rights reserved, and may not be reproduced in part or in whole without written permission of the Publisher.
