Capturing entertaining moments on video comes naturally for millennials, but the notion that social media engagement will lead to popularity and fame is often a fantasy. For Hamilton-based Isabel “Izzy” Kanaan—who started making TikTok videos for fun, showcasing her sense of humour and her lived experience of migrating to Canada from the Philippines—this fantasy became a reality. Now Isabel is the creator, writer, and actor in OMNI Television’s Abroad.
Where we’re from is part of who we are
Petite and brimming with electricity, Isabel Kanaan speaks with an ever-present and infectious smile. While posing for photographs on Toronto’s City Hall podium roof in late spring, the luminescent Isabel is juxtaposed against the bleak landscape and modernist structure once dubbed the “Eye of Government,” appropriately, and where some of the dystopian series The Handmaid’s Tale was filmed. High above Nathan Phillips Square, Isabel is at home and comfortable with this major Canadian city at her feet. She laughs and moves fluidly into different poses even as the wind whips up furiously and the photographer’s light tent threatens to rip away.
A teenager in grade 12 when her family decided to emigrate in 2008, Isabel was not particularly excited about moving to Canada: “I did not want to move to Canada at all. I was 16—I had my friend group, and my partner at the time didn’t want me to leave.”
Isabel’s parents—described by Isabel as driven and proactive—sat the family down and explained the “big picture” for the family, which focused on supporting her two brothers to ensure that they had the best options for treatment. Isabel’s two brothers had been diagnosed with autism, and her parents believed that Canada had superior support programs and opportunities for children with autism compared to what was available in the Philippines. For the Kanaan family, Canada became a part of that big picture.
Leaving behind long-time friends and all that she had known was a lot for an adolescent Isabel to embrace. However, it turned out that transitioning to her new community was not difficult—all it took was her overhearing her native Filipino language Tagalog on her way to a high school assembly for Isabel to start a conversation, which eventually blossomed into multiple and lasting friendships.
Far from the Philippines, but carrying her culture deep within her, Isabel was always involved in representing, advocating for, and amplifying Filipino culture. After graduating high school, she moved on to attend York University, where she joined the Filipino Student Association of York and, later, the Carlos Bulosan Theatre, a Filipino performing arts theatre in Toronto. As Isabel explains it, “I have always needed that Filipino influence; there was something in my soul that just needed it.”
That need to remain true to the essence of her roots is what gives the Abroad series such a strong Filipino flavour. “It was my dream for Abroad—that it would break barriers. I didn’t want to feel like I had to choose between being Filipino or Canadian,” says Isabel. When asked if the journey of developing a comedy series was as she had conceptualized it, the actor responds: “No, it was not at all as I imagined it. I was just creating TikTok sketches about my experiences. I didn’t go to anyone pitching the idea of a show; they came to me.”
Moving from creating sketches about being Filipina or being an immigrant to producing a TV series is no small shift. Her TikTok name “AbroadFilipina” caught the attention of Longhope Media producers, who approached Isabel about a potential new show with her at the centre. More comfortable working with others, Isabel told the producers that she wanted the show to be a group story about immigrant experiences. After pitching the idea, OMNI Television suggested developing a show in Tagalog and English around her experience as a Filipina-Canadian while showcasing her interactions with other people.
It’s not uncommon for immigrants to feel like they shouldn’t speak their native languages in their adopted countries, particularly English-speaking countries. Being offered a platform to showcase her culture and incorporate her mother tongue at the same time was a unique opportunity for authentic and meaningful representation that Isabel wasn’t going to miss. “Wait . . . wait . . . wait!” Isabel had squealed with excitement to the producers of the show, “I can do my show in my native language
in Canada?”
Although with predominantly Filipino flavour, the Abroad series incorporates the immigrant experience in general, and is relatable to immigrants from anywhere. The production team includes people from different cultures who contribute both unique and shared experiences, making the content rich and impactful. For Isabel, this was key. “Finding common ground in our experiences brought the team together as a family, in a sense. With everything we were doing, we felt safe, and that’s what made it really great.”
Isabel hopes that new immigrants who watch the show celebrate the fact that they are immigrants, sharing with their new communities their different cultures and a proud history of where they come from. Isabel recalls that when she first moved to Canada, she did not feel confident telling others that she was an immigrant: “I felt that I needed to hide that part of myself, but as soon as I found my voice and discovered who I really was, then everything really, really started to skyrocket for me.” It is important to Isabel that no other immigrant experience the same lack of confidence she felt when she first moved to Canada. Her belief is that if immigrants can see themselves represented in different forms of creative expressions, then their ideas of what is possible will expand.
Always a performer, born to entertain
The performing arts have long played a role in Isabel’s life. In the Philippines, she enjoyed singing and dancing—but particularly dancing, including back-up dancing for celebrities, who are generally revered in the Philippines. Isabel also competed in dance competitions, acted in school theatre productions, and performed in musical theatre during the summer. Isabel had hoped to enter the theatre program at the University of the Philippines—until the family move to Canada entered the picture. For Isabel, this upheaval seemed to be the end of her life onstage. Once established in Canada, Isabel decided to take a route that might have been considered a “safe” career path. Having been “great at math” as a youngster, teaching math seemed a logical career choice in Isabel’s mind, and she began to pursue that direction. Her love and passion for the performing arts never allowed her to forget her need for creative expression, however, and eventually one day the pull caught up with her.
On that day, Isabel was having a conversation with someone who had recently graduated from the Seneca Polytechnic’s Acting for Camera and Voice diploma program. Learning about the program sparked something in Isabel, and suddenly she felt that it was time for her to follow her passion. By then she had been in Canada for five years and was comfortable in her culture and environment, so she was fortified with courage and the confidence to register in the program.
A few years later, post-graduation from Seneca, Isabel had difficulty finding jobs that were fulfilling. “I was even told to market myself as ‘ethnic’ to have an edge, but despite doing so, I still wasn’t getting the jobs,” shares Isabel. She joined the Second City Conservatory’s writing program and later earned the opportunity to attend the NBC Bob Curry Fellowship program. These experiences, and the desire to do something new and different in telling her own story, was the catalyst for her TikTok sketches. And then, of course, along came Abroad.
The power of your why
Isabel describes her family as the centre of her life; acting and creating more seasons of Abroad allows her to provide for them and make plans. Hopefully, another season of Abroad is in production, but if something else comes up, Isabel is open to pivoting to provide for her family. “At the end of the day,” she says, “it’s my family; my drive comes from my brothers. I am the Ate (ah-teh), which means ‘older sister.’” Isabel was constantly reminded from a young age of her responsibility to family; it was instilled in her that when her parents passed on, she would be responsible for her brothers. For some, this type of expectation might breed resentment, but not for Isabel. This rising star embraces and enjoys the responsibility, and she sees her family as the reason behind everything that she accomplishes. “I want to take care of them. They’re so much fun to be around. They give me material to write.”
However, like in any family, nothing is perfect, and Isabel’s relationship with her parents has not always been harmonious. When Isabel’s mom stumbled on a text from Isabel’s ex-girlfriend, the elders of this traditional Filipino family felt blindsided. Isabel says that it was a difficult conversation, and that it was challenging at first for her parents to accept her identifying as queer. Thankfully, Isabel reports that her family now accepts her path as her own and supports her in all that she represents.
When asked how she remains centred in her outlook on life, Isabel replies that it comes “[through] self-reflection; to know what is important and what works for you.” For Isabel, keeping her family close works for her. “It’s a gut thing,” she says. “I feel it in my gut! If they’re gone, I cry. If they’re here, I cry with happiness. There was a point at the height of my career when my whole family was in the Philippines. I was doing all these shows, but I felt really, really sad, and nobody could figure out why. Then my family returned to Canada, and all those feelings of sadness and despair just went away.”
The vibrant Isabel has broken through many barriers and challenged just as many stereotypes through the gift of comedy. Undoubtedly the route to achieving all that she has to this point is nothing short of inspirational for anyone wondering if they can make their mark while remaining authentic to who they are at their core. Isabel shares the advice she would offer her younger self: “There is no right path; there is no stable job; it is a matter of trust—trust in self, trust that no matter what life puts in your way, you will find a way to get through it. If you find a why that is very powerful, one that is outside of just yourself, and one that will impact the world positively, then you know it needs to get out there. That dream, purpose, and passion will keep nagging at you until you find a way to bring it to life.”
