Tasya Teles Talks Shoresy, Evolution, and Creative Risk-Taking

Before we officially hit record, Tasya and I found ourselves in an easy, unfiltered back-and-forth, you know, the kind that feels more like catching up with an old friend than interviewing one of Canada’s most recognizable screen presences. There’s something instantly disarming about her. The sharp wit audiences love in Shoresy is very much present, but it comes complete with a warmth and self-awareness that makes the conversation flow effortlessly.

We yapped about everything from growing up in Toronto to life in Los Angeles vs. life in New York, and found out that at one point we were semi-neighbors (so naturally we both settled on LA-life for the win). We laughed about the surreal ride of watching Shoresy grow season after season, and about the strange duality of Nat having to be the most composed person in a room full of chaos. Yet, off-screen, Tasya carries a calm confidence that left a lasting impression on audiences even until now. She’s thoughtful, grounded, and refreshingly real. But before we went deeper into Shoresy's Season 5, I had to ask Tasya if we could start at the beginning. 

Born in Toronto and raised in Vancouver, she described a childhood split between creativity and competition - acting here and there, then soccer taking over her life entirely at one point. Art was always there, though. Drawing. Painting. Writing. “Very obviously, I was an artist,” she laughed. And yet, when it came time to choose a path, she pivoted toward something far more practical: Finance. Montreal. Commerce. A “sensible” degree.

As she told it, the detour felt both necessary and misaligned. Being the artist she is, Tas filled her electives with art classes. Then one acting class changed everything. “I walked out feeling lit up,” she said. “Alive.” Clearly, it was the kind of alive that doesn’t let you ignore it. Still, with two professor parents and a nearly finished degree, the compromise was clear: finish commerce first. Acting would have to wait.

Then the 2008–2009 economic crisis hit. Finance jobs disappeared. And what could have felt like a setback quietly became a window of opportunity.

“I was like, screw it. You only live once,” she said. She gave herself two years. She studied obsessively, auditioned, and most importantly, she moved toward her fears. And almost immediately, the industry welcomed her in.

At one point, I realized, “You literally end up where you’re supposed to, no matter how hard you don’t want to.” She laughed, with that kind of “knowing” laugh that comes from having lived it, and told me, “You know, you get forced through these channels that bring you right back to your path. It’s beautiful.”  We talked about how even the paths you don’t stay on still shape you. Nothing is wasted.

By the time we moved into the official interview, it was clear that Tasya’s career wasn’t built on accident or overnight success. It’s built on instinct, risk, and the quiet courage to follow what makes you feel alive... even if you get there by taking the scenic route.

Okay, now that you’re caught up, I’ll drop you right into the middle of our one-on-one, whether between friends, an interviewer and an interviewee, or a student and their teacher; I’ll let you decide. 

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Adar: Let me ask you this, since we're on the topic of narrative storytelling. ​You first broke out in sci-fi drama as Echo on The 100, a character who evolved significantly over the course of the series. Looking back at that experience, what did that role teach you about long-form character development that still informs the way that you approach your new projects today?

Tasya: I believe, well, there are a few things. One, if I were to put it more simply, would be the importance of backstory. And that no role is necessarily too small to start doing layered work, because Echo was destined to die within a handful of episodes. But when I got that character, there was something about the world and the show that I really loved. And I was like, okay, I'm going to approach this character with everything I've got, like, I want to know why she's doing things. What motivates her? Where did she come from? How does she walk? How does she behave? Who does she trust? Who does she not trust - which is most people - but it started showing me that right from the get-go, doing good work is really the bar that you want to approach everything with. 

You don't want to throw away any opportunity or anything, and just kind of do something half-assed. And I think because I approached her with so much curiosity and really developed her backstory and created this character right from the get-go, that kept the performance very alive in my whole physicality, which is something that the writers were seeing as we were filming it. They were getting interested in what was going on for her, and they kept on writing her into more and more episodes, which was then starting to give me the ability to show different sides of her.

​So getting really curious about your character, always putting in a lot of work into something that you love. Because you never know how it's going to serve you as you offer it up. And getting into character, that was a tough one because the portrayal of Echo was a lot more villainous off the top.

​I was like, “Oh my god, how do I get into this? How do I identify with a murderous, villainous person?” It's so opposite to me! It really forced me to look at all the different ways and tools I had as an actor and challenged me so much to make her a real person. And that journey taught me a lot about the process of acting that I still apply to all of my characters.

​But it also taught me about the beauty of developing somebody over time. You don't have to show everything at the beginning, and you actually can't. You're just supposed to honor what's on the page and stay true to that. And then if you're lucky, for upcoming episodes or seasons, they'll explore different aspects of your character, and you have an opportunity to show that.

Adar: Amazing. So, after years of working in drama, stepping into comedy with Shoresy marks a notable pivot in your career. Was that shift something that you were actively seeking at the time? Or did Nat simply feel like the kind of character that challenged you in a new way?

Tasya: I always wanted to do comedy. I was always interested in doing comedy, but it felt distant, and something I hadn't had much practice with, and it was intimidating because comedy is so technical. There's so much to comedy that makes it intimidating. I hadn't trained in comedy a lot. I was living in Vancouver, and at the time, we didn't have a lot of multicam studios. We don't have a lot of shows that come here to do comedy. So the bulk of my experience and training was in the world of drama. In the back of my mind, I was like, “I would love to do comedy one day.” And then the phone call came in, and it was like, “There's this offer for you on Shoresy.” 

I was gobsmacked at first, and immediately interested because I knew Jared's writing through Letterkenny and I knew that it was very special, that there was this rhythm and layered quality to it where he is able to hide jokes within jokes and then use all these comedic setups and classic comedic gags, like Rules of Three and things like that, very fluidly throughout the dialogue and the show. And so it immediately presented a challenge, an attractive challenge for me because I was like, oh man, like this style of comedy is so specific and requires so much of you as an actor to study and understand and to try to get into that vocal challenge and lift the comedy. You have to learn so much. So I was like, “Let's do this!” I was really excited to take on comedy. And I was also really curious about the world that he was setting up. And he was like, we're going to do this hockey show. I was like, “Okay?”

​I didn't really know what that meant. But I had this inherent intuitive trust in him. ​I was like, “Let's do this, game on.” It was in the background of my mind, I just didn't realize it was going to happen so immediately.

Adar: I mean, it's funny that you said that comedy was intimidating to you and drama felt more comfortable. I would have expected the opposite. That's really cool; let's touch on that a little bit. Because, like, that conflict lies in how grounded she stays in the middle of the chaos of the Bulldogs' locker room. How do you personally strike that balance between her sharp comedic timing and the underlying emotional sincerity that keeps her from being a purely deadpan personality?

​Tasya: Oh, my gosh. I mean, you find it in both the writing, what's on the page, and also in your work as an actor in developing the backstory. Because to just say that Nat loves to win, she hates to lose, is just playing this idea of somebody who's competitive. So, why does she love to win?

She loves to win because she's honoring her mother's legacy, but also because she wants to bring the community together. She's motivated by more altruistic things. She wants to have a winning team because she wants to support the community. She wants to support the schools and the kids and do kids' programs. And she wants to create excitement in the town and get the town out and alive. And these are the things that are actually motivating her. 

And that's why she hates to lose, because there's no energy and creation for her with losing. For her to run the Bulldogs and have it be successful is opening up all of these opportunities for her to serve the community. So that's how I create the connection between what she's saying that had more of a grounded, authentic, purpose-driven quality to her. And then also, there's like an inner strength and stillness that is required of Nat because there's just so much chaos and absurdity around her that I was like, “If she joins the absurdity, then I feel like there’s gonna be too much clowning going on.” I think that she is kind of the thing that people tether to. She is the center, so that all these other guys who are just going crazy around her and living their best lives, but also not very focused, or they need to be, how do you say, herded together or guided or led by both Nat and Shoresy. They both have their flaws in the way that they lead. Like, Nat probably shouldn't have named the team the “Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs” (laughs).

Not that she shouldn't have, but I mean, that was the solution at the time to keep the team alive. The boys didn't like it, but she was like, “Tough, guys. I solved one problem right now. So let's move on to the next.” But she doesn't necessarily know what she's doing all the time. There's this episode where she creates these long-sleeve golf shirts that the guys have to wear because she doesn't really know what she's doing. So there's a kind of sweet innocence to her where she's making new mistakes. But ultimately, she is holding it together pretty well and finding that she is a good leader, and she can do this.

Adar: I mean, we're on Season 5 now. As Nat's character continues to evolve, the Bulldogs grow, and the audience of Shoresy grows along with them. Which aspects of Nat's leadership or even her vulnerability have you been most excited to explore as the series progresses?

Tasya: We see Nat working a lot. And that, to me, is not only relatable, but it shows how much of a hard worker she is and what her commitment is to her Bulldogs and how much they mean to her and how much this means to her. But it also only shows one side of her, and maybe that's because that's the dominant side for her right now. But what I love to explore with Nat is the places where she is vulnerable, because I do find that those are the most exciting and interesting places to live as our character. Like, where is she vulnerable? I would say she doesn't give herself the opportunity to have a lot of fun. So I think letting go and not being so focused on work does make her feel vulnerable. I think love makes her feel vulnerable. We haven't seen much of Nat's love life. And I think that could be because she doesn't have time for it (laughs). I think we might start to see some next season, which will be really exciting to start playing in that world, because with Shoresy and some of the other guys, we do get to see these other sides to them when we see them in relationships. So I'm really excited to explore that for Nat.

Adar: Me too! Let's pivot a little bit more. We're still going to stay on Shoresy for a little bit. But I want to get more into the themes of identity, mental health, and community beneath all the humor. And it's actually one of the things that Shoresy is most critically acclaimed for. From your perspective as an actor, how important is it to preserve that emotional nuance in the scenes where they usually otherwise would be more fast-paced and comedic?

Tasya: Every genre has its place. So I think, of course, sometimes if we're feeling down, or we need a pick me up, just some broad comedy serves what you need in that moment perfectly.

​Being on a show that is able to serve comedy, as well as these heartfelt themes and discussions around leadership, community, friendship, family, and mental health, is such a special combination I feel so honored to have because those are the stories that excite me.

​Living in a world that's so technology-driven, where we're becoming more and more siloed from each other and more connected to our phones than we are with each other, working on material that connects the audience to their own humanity, and to humanity in general, is everything. I mean, that's to me what I want to do in the spaces of entertainment and storytelling is to work on characters that are complex and interesting, but super authentic and move people.

To work in a comedy that actually has this other side to it, that is really, really moving. Like, there are some moments when I'm watching Shoresy, and I'm like, surprised that they are showing these beautiful moments. For me, that's what I look for in every character that I work on, but in every project I approach as well.

Adar: Outside of Shoresy, your work has spanned genres from post-apocalyptic drama to romantic thrillers to action-leaning projects. What kinds of roles are you gravitating toward next in this phase of your career?

Tasya: Hmm… I feel like in this next phase of my career, I'm really excited about authenticity and complexity and moving away from things that are too polished or contrived.

​I find again, this comes down to storytelling and connection - connecting with people, connecting with audiences, connecting with things that are exciting and true. I think right now that's really important. There's so much going on politically; on an international level, on a local level. I think for artists and storytellers, now is the time for us to step up and be brave in speaking to difficult truths, to uphold a certain level of integrity and ideas of love and community and strength and togetherness that will keep us functioning, and hopefully change and correct some of these crazy times. So I want to move towards work that is even more daring. I want to take some risks right now (laughs). 

​I say that and then like, aaah!

Adar: Are there any upcoming projects that you can speak to that feel particularly different from what audiences have seen you in before?

Tasya: There are two things I'm going to say to this. I mean, one kind of pertains to the previous question, which is something that I'm always excited about, is telling a story from a female perspective, like really getting behind the lens and POV of interesting and complex female narratives and characters.

​So right now I'm working on collaborating with a few different people on certain scripts for indie features. It's a great time for the indie world right now. There's a lot of cool indie stuff that's coming up. I'm definitely collaborating on some cool stories with some really cool female-driven narratives.

​But I'm also working on- and I'm a bit nervous to be saying this out loud in an interview, but it's time. I'm also working on a podcast. And that podcast is probably the thing that scares me the most because it is so raw and so authentic. And it's not me communicating behind the veil of another character. It's me speaking authentically from myself and using my own tone and my own creativity to connect with people in real time. So I'm really excited about it. It's a good kind of excitement. It feels purposeful. It feels like the right time. Everything feels in alignment. And that's a way that people have never seen me. So, pray for me. (both laughing)

Adar: Yeah, you just think like one of those people who are like, “That sounds frightening. Let's do it!”

Tasya: Nailed it. 100%. That's exactly what it is. Honestly, moving towards your fear is so important. And it's actually something that's part of the motivation behind the podcast. Because when I started acting, what was immediately challenging was the idea that, unlike with writing or painting or some other form of art, when you're acting, it requires action: you have to actually do the thing you can't hide behind anything else. It requires action. And then I got to this place in my life where I realized, okay, like I've had these accomplishments in my career, and I still feel very invigorated and excited by what I do. But I'm not as scared as I used to be. 

​I also teach, so when I'm teaching, I talk to my students a lot about moving towards your fear and to experiences that will challenge you, because on the other side of that, you get all of the gains of knowing that you've moved through something really scary, and that you're still okay.

​So that's this for me. I don't know, I guess maybe I'm saying the same thing again. I'm terrified. I'm also excited.

​You can't stay safe too long. You gotta challenge yourself every now and again.