I’ve wanted to speak with Raoul Bhaneja for a long time. It’s a wonder we haven’t chatted before, actually. With 30 years in the industry and over 150 film, TV and theatre credits in The Dresden Files, Flashpoint, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Crawford and Murdoch Mysteries, there has been plenty to talk about.

We made up for lost time, however. Speaking for over 40 minutes, we delved back into the first project I spotted Bhaneja on—Train 48—while discussing three of his most recent gigs: Season 3 of The Trades, returning Friday to Crave; a meaty guest spot on Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, airing Thursday on Citytv; and his ongoing recurring role on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy on Paramount + and CTV Sci Fi Channel.

The first time that you ever came onto my radar was on Train 48. This was back when I was writing for TV Guide Canada, and I actually visited the set and sat inside the train car. What are your memories of working on that show?
Raoul Bhaneja: Wow. Well, it’s 23 years ago this summer. It was a wild experience. I remember at the time being in an industry conference and Canadian super television producer Lazlo Barna, whom I ended up working for on a project. I remember him getting up there and basically saying that shows like Train 48 were going to be the end of Canadian television because they were these low-budget improvised dialogue kind of low craft CanCon fillers. And I think with the exception of Metropia, which followed, which was really different from our show and was produced by [Canadian] Steve Levitan as well. I think with the exception of that, no one since has ever really on that level attempted anything like it.

We knew we were on something that was very innovative and original. Of course, it was based on an Australian format, but the way our show came out, it came out in a completely Canadian way, where it was part soap opera and part SCTV. It was pretty much the wildest thing I’ve ever done on television. I mean, we did 318 half hours. I got to direct one of them. I still have many friends from that show and people who, of course, have gone on to do so much television—Joanne Boland, Paul Braunstein and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, and all these other guest stars and people who passed through, including Jayne Eastwood. I really look back on it fondly, and it was the first Canadian thing I was on where I was recognized, which is funny … this year marks exactly, and almost this month, marks exactly 30 years in TV and film.

My first job was on The Newsroom, Season 1. That was 1996, and here we were in 2003. By the summer of 2003 and into 2004, you started to have people go, ‘Hey, you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?’ I’d been on TV in Canada prior to that; in those previous seven years, I hadn’t really been on that thing that was that much in people’s living rooms. So yeah, it was amazing. The bonds we made as friends, the kind of wild gorilla-style shooting, and the fun, great experience one had, because, of course, there were writers on the show. It wasn’t like it was improvised, but the dialogue was improvised.

There were plots and scenes and scenarios, but the practice of being in character and coming up with your character’s lines and inventing these scenes together, and also then having one committed pod each episode that literally opened that morning’s Toronto Star, that morning’s National Post, Globe & Mail, and talked about the news that was on. It broke all kinds of rules and invented all kinds of things, and it’s a very special time, and it helped me put a deposit on my house.

Switching gears a little bit, obviously, is The Trades. Oh man, what Ryan J. Lindsay has created, I just love that show so much, and it’s been so great to see you a part of it. I’m excited about Season 3 kicking off this week on Crave. So how did you get involved in the show? You mentioned that you’ve been in the industry for 30 years. Are you still auditioning, or are they coming to you and saying, ‘We want you to be part of the show?’
RB: Oh, I wish I didn’t have to audition for anything anymore. I still read for things and particularly roles that are leading roles or large recurring roles. There’s certain things I don’t really do anymore because I’ve done them a thousand times and I don’t really want to do them again, but in this case, I got the breakdown for it and I thought, ‘Well, they said with accent or without an accent,’ but I looked at it and I was like, ‘Well, I think this has to be done with an accent because it makes sense for this guy.’ And then I was like, ‘Well, do I want to do that again?’ And then I was like, ‘Well, let me see.’ I started to read the sides, and then I read a script, and I was like, ‘Wow, I have never seen a South Asian Canadian character, an immigrant Canadian, South Asian character portrayed this way in any kind of mainstream comedy show.’ He had so many flaws, and he was so complicated and ridiculous, but it wasn’t really at all about his cultural identity or his ethnicity. Until quite recently, like on Late Bloomer or Allegiance, you’re starting to see shows emerge now where there’s the South Asian identity is first of all expressed inside those shows, as opposed to the South Asian character on this other kind of show. So until those kinds of shows started arriving of which had not been made, you often felt like those characters, particularly if they had an accent, you sort of thought accented immigrant characters were there to really fulfill a kind of duty or a role that had a lot to do with their ethnicity.

And I love the fact that this guy was a drunk and that this guy was brilliant, but really kind of messed up and tortured and that he wanted to be kind of one of the guys, even though he was kind of in management. When I read the script and I realized that my character was going to take a shit in the 18th hole before he got sent to rehab, I was like, ‘OK, if you’re going to do this part, it’s like nothing you’ve ever done before.’ And it’s been true.

I’ve been in a lot of shows, but that was my first Canadian Screen Award nomination as an actor was for Season 1 of The Trades. So I knew there was a part there that I could do something with.

What can you tell me about Medhi’s journey in Season 3?
RB: Medhi appears in the early episodes of the show in a rather unique way. In Season 2, Medhi was sober, but like a lot of people who wrestle with addiction, he kind of found a new thing to get addicted to. And he was getting really into health products, and then ultimately he got really hooked on coffee enemas.

In Season 3, he’s off the butt juice, but he is kind of still wrestling with this thing of being kind of like a famous engineer now who helped modify this flare stack and trying to help the company and then also still wanting to be and needing to be a part of the operation.

In addition to The Trades returning this week, you’re also in this week’s new episode of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent. You portray Dr. Plath; what attracted you to the role?
RB: I’d had the pleasure of working in this kind of capacity with the Cameron sisters before on some other shows. They’ve been good to me when it comes to the juicy guest thing. I’ll always really consider it because they’ve done me the honour of not having to audition.

So in this case, it was really nice to get the call and go, ‘OK, yeah, let me have a real look at this.’ I don’t do a ton of guest stars anymore because if it’s a Canadian show, you’d like to be in a part that’s in it regularly. But knowing how the show is structured and with the great actors they have in the recurring capacity already, I was like, ‘Yeah, OK.’ When I started to look at just an incredible list of talent we have available that have done guest roles on it, right? It’s really something else.

But what really sealed it for me on top of it being a great part, was Kathleen Munroe. I’ve known Kathleen for a long time. Kathleen guest-starred on a show I was on called The Dresden Files. She was in the early stages of her career, and she did a guest star on that season and she blew everybody away. She had just an incredible presence. She was so great. So to get the chance to act with her was going to be cool.

But the kicker for me was the first movie I did was in 1997, 1998 with Mary Walsh and Andy Jones. It was a Canadian film called Extraordinary Visitor. It ended up going to TIFF in ’98, so that was amazing.

Mary Walsh and Andy Jones’ movie had the character of their daughter; they were looking around for the right kid. They picked this girl, who happened to be the art director, Pam Hall’s daughter. She’d never really acted before, but she had a real natural quality to her and was really sweet. That young actress was Jordan Canning.

So the woman who was directing my episode was Jordan Canning. I 100 percent had to do it.

And then, Jayne Eastwood playing my mom [in the episode] was just like one of the coolest things ever. So those were two really big things for me to work with Jayne, have Jayne play my mother and to get to have Jordan direct it. And I’m so glad I did.

You have a recurring role as Chancellor Kelrec on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy alongside Holly Hunter. What has it been like jumping on the whole Star Trek ride?
RB: I’m very lucky to have that job. I’m in a good chunk of both seasons, and you’ve got Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti. A huge amount of my scene work is with Holly Hunter. You’re working with someone who’s won an Academy Award, but nominated three times, and who also has learned from a whole other generation of actors and peers.

On one level, it’s like, ‘Wow, OK, I’m on this big franchise.’ But then on the other side, it’s been fun to watch these young actors grow over the two seasons. They’ve come from all across the galaxy. They’re from all over the world. They’ve never lived in Toronto before. They’re all here together, bonding and trying to make something special.

And then you have someone like Holly, who sets the bar incredibly high. She probably has more energy than anybody I’ve ever worked with. She’s more focused than anybody I’ve ever worked with. She’s pretty much more prepared than anybody I’ve ever worked with. Like the bar that she sets is so high for everyone, including me. I mean, as I said, I’m in year 30, and it’s like, ‘Hey Raoul, you better not fuck around on this. Let’s go.’

It’s just been great to work with an actor who’s senior to me in fame and experience and all that stuff, who I can still learn a lot from. It’s just a reminder that every day you’re on set, no matter what you’re doing or how long you’ve been doing it for, it really is a privilege to get to do this.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. Eastern on Citytv.

Season 3 of The Trades airs Fridays on Crave.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent image courtesy of Citytv. The Trades images courtesy of Crave.