Inside Bianca Nugara’s World: “Heated Rivalry,” “Tell Me Lies,” and Her Acting Journey

By the time Bianca Nugara is holding her phone up to show photos of her bunny, Peanut, it’s obvious she radiates the same warmth and spark that made her now-iconic Heated Rivalry “girl” line go viral.

On paper, Nugara’s trajectory reads like a highlight reel with her first short-film, Mariposa, premiered at Cannes in 2018. Since then, the actress has appeared in Law & Order Toronto, stolen scenes as Maria in Heated Rivalry, and stepped into the emotional turmoil of Tell Me Lies as Tegan. Online, fans have shared clips and images of her characters across platforms, and even her younger brother has sent her comments where her characters are used as reaction photos.

Off-screen, Nugara is still the self-described over-thinker who worries she rambles, feels like an imposter in an industry that’s suddenly paying very close attention, and grapples with the pressure to look, feel, and perform “perfect” in a subjective industry.

Bianca Nugara joined EnVi on a Zoom, where she opened up about her recent roles, her path into acting, and how her background informs her artistry.

Scene-Stealing Roles

Nugara commands attention with every performance. In Heated Rivalry and Tell Me Lies, she plays two characters who prove how much impact a few scenes can have.

What links both roles is how Nugara approaches the worlds she’s stepping into. Before thinking about screen time, she focuses on understanding the tone, texture, and the emotional temperature of the show.

“First and foremost, I think just doing the work and the research and just trying to figure out the different tones of the show and have an understanding of that is what I would do,” she explained. “And then after that, just using my imagination and allowing myself to dive in freely and commit to the tone or whatever situation that I’m in.”

In Heated Rivalry, Maria stole the spotlight almost immediately after her debut in episode three, “Hunter.” Nugara gained particular attention for a single word: “girl.” Her delivery of the line, which she said three different ways in the episode, was clipped and shared endlessly online, leading to some fun fan edits. Nugara said she had “absolutely zero idea this would reverberate the way it did, and let alone turn into a meme.”

It’s really important that I’m an ally with the LGBTQ+ community, and I believe that queer love stories are super important and need to be told.

“I think I realized the amount of screen time is not in correlation to how it impacts someone,” Nugara shared. “I really think it’s people seeing something relatable — which I can’t take credit for, that’s obviously the writers and director who created such a relatable character — and me just having fun.”

Looking back, what sticks with her most about Maria is how the character connected with queer audiences, giving them representation in a genre that doesn’t always make space for their stories.

“For Maria and for me, personally, it’s really important that I’m an ally with the LGBTQ+ community, and I truly, genuinely believe that queer love stories are super important and need to be told,” she said. “… Hopefully this opens doors for me to tell more stories of real love in all its forms. I think we need more of that.”

In Tell Me Lies, her character enters at a crucial point in Stephen and Lucy’s storyline, the show’s main couple. Nugara believes Tegan had “absolutely no idea of the emotional minefield she’s walking into.” From the start, it was important to her, the creative team, and director Larysa Kondracki that Tegan never became just another victim to Stephen’s narcissism.

Instead of playing Tegan as another casualty or pawn, Nugara leaned into her youth and optimism.

“Tegan is just young, optimistic. She’s a freshman that got some attention from a senior… she’s keeping her energy up while this toxic friend group is all low energy,” Nugara explained. “I just wanted Tegan to kind of be that opposing, bright character that has no idea.”

She went on to describe Tegan as a “deer in headlights,” but with a twist. “Not a deer in headlights that’s like, ‘Oh, what do I do?’ It’s just like, ‘Hey, I don’t care if you guys are not in a good mood, I’m here and I’m having fun, so I want you guys to have fun too.’”

What Nuagra appreciates most about Tegan is the way the character avoids some of the genre’s most tired instincts. She doesn’t exist to punish Lucy, or to slot into a love-triangle where women become each other’s enemies.

“She’s also not in competition with Lucy,” Nugara pointed out. “They have that heart-to-heart, and there’s no animosity between the girls, which I love and I think is so important, especially since the fanbase of these shows are mostly young adults.”

Nugara added that feeling supported on set made it easier to inhabit Tegan. “Genuinely, on this set, they’re all friends, and they’re all kind to each other, and they were kind to me,” she shared. “I felt so supported, not only with the cast [but with] everybody in the team… it almost felt like a really well oiled machine, and I didn’t feel out of place because they kind of made me feel like my place in that machine was necessary.”

Her Path to Acting

Before Nugara even considered acting, her love for arts first took shape through music. Her dad played music around their home, often on the piano and guitar, so she naturally leaned toward it. 

“I always viewed the arts in general as something that I wanted to do,” Nugara said. But over time, she realized music theory wasn’t the right fit. While on the look for another creative outlet, she decided to try an acting class.

“That’s when I discovered this is what I connect most to, and what I feel the best doing,” Nugara revealed.

Not long after, she was studying humanities in university when an opportunity that would shape her early career came along. Nugara landed one of her first roles while still a student, as she was cast by her now-close friends Ron Dias and Joanne Jansen in the short film Mariposa, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

“This was back in 2018, so as a fresh, new actor and having that experience, it was just surreal,” Nugara said. Mariposa follows two girls in Cuba attempting to escape the country by water, and Nugara was particularly excited about the challenges the film presented.

“I was able to speak Spanish and do some intense water scenes, which, again, as a first role — speaking a different language and being in water — is like, ‘What? This is a job? This is something that I can do for a living?’”

Having this experience early in her career, along with the encouragement of Dias and Jansen, pushed her decision to professionally pursue acting. “They really encouraged me to continue down this route and not fall back into humanities,” she said about ultimately deciding not to complete her degree.

From there, Nugara’s passion for acting has only continued to grow. “When I started feeling confident in my acting and feeling like this is something that I could work on and get better at, that’s when I was like, ‘Okay, I can do this. This is something that I’m not going to have my limiting beliefs [stop me] from trying,’” Nugara revealed. 

Heritage Shapes the Craft

Nugara’s path through the industry is shaped as much by where she comes from as it is by the roles she books. Born and raised in Toronto, she grew up surrounded by a mix of cultures, stories, and sounds that made curiosity feel natural.

“Being Canadian, like, it’s a melting pot of all different cultures,” Nugara shared. “It’s diverse and I was always intrigued by different perspectives and being open and empathetic and curious about them.”

Seeing so many different lives and backgrounds around her made her want to be part of bringing that diversity to the screen.

Her own background is layered: both of Nugara’s parents are from Sri Lanka, from a community called Sri Lankan Burgher, a mix of local and European heritage shaped by centuries of colonization. Her grandparents even spoke Portuguese in Sri Lanka.

“We’re basically brown people who’ve been colonized by Europeans, very long ago, and the Burgher people kind of kept certain cultural aspects and foods and religions.”

For Nugara, that complexity has been both grounding and challenging. It gives her a distinct perspective and a connection to multiple histories at once, but it has also complicated how the industry sees and casts her.

“It’s something that’s been hard for me growing up, because it’s hard to feel like you fit in sometimes,” she admitted. “Especially with roles; there’s no Sri Lankan-Portuguese-Dutch role. I kind of just fall into the Latinx category, which is why I chose to work on my Spanish because there’s just not… But I’m hoping, with all the changes that are happening in the world, that maybe not in my time, but eventually, like there will be more roles for diverse people.”

Images courtesy of Bianca Nugara

Her Canadian upbringing also meant growing up around the stereotype of Canadians as endlessly polite, and she has become self-aware about how that instinct to apologize and shrink herself shows up in her work life. Part of her journey has been unlearning that reflex.

“Learning to just own who I am and my work, and finding the power and strength in that, it’s okay to not apologize for who I am, actually helps,” she said.

The idea of owning who she is, rather than toning it down, is deeply tied to how she talks about imperfection and imposter syndrome. One of the biggest learning curves for Nugara since Mariposa has been accepting that perfection isn’t the goal, and that chasing it can be paralyzing.

“This industry is so subjective,” she said. “You could feel like you have to look, perform and feel perfect and that is something that I struggle with, and it’s something that I’m learning to deal with … Ever since I’ve just accepted who I am, flaws and all — and I’m still learning too — I feel like I’ve been able to work more because I’m just able to be me.”

The whole experience of the artist is just to recreate life, and understanding that life is just messy and people want to see that.

The sudden attention following her viral moment in Heated Rivalry made those feelings more noticeable.

“In the beginning, I kept saying to family and friends, ‘I feel like I have imposter syndrome.’ Like, I’m doing all these things now because of this one ‘girl’ line. [I’m] super thankful for it but I’m like, ‘Should I even be here right now?’”

Over time, Nugara said she has tried to accept that uncertainty as part of the creative process.

“The whole experience of the artist is just to recreate life,” Nugara said. “And understanding that life is just messy and people want to see that, is helping me to overcome those limiting beliefs, but it is still something that is very present in my life that I’m struggling with.”

Her guiding principle is simple: approach every character without judgment, even when their choices are far from her own.

“I think just approaching [a role] with non-judgment is what allows me to have that profound understanding of where the character is coming from, where they’re going, why they’re doing the things that they’re doing,” Nugara said.

Beyond the Roles and What’s Next?

After talking about roles, premieres, and industry milestones, her energy lights up the most at the mention of her bunny, Peanut. “This is my dream that you asked me this,” she laughed over Zoom. “This is the reason I keep reposting bunnies [on TikTok], [to] be the bunny girl.”

At the moment, Peanut lives in Toronto with Nugara’s dad while she stays in Los Angeles. On Zoom, Nugara flipped through her camera roll showing photos of her bunny and telling stories about how Peanut drags blankets around the house like a tiny robe, tugs one over herself, and flops down to sleep. “She looks scary, but she’s actually the sweetest ever,” Nugara said.

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Growing up in Canada, Nugara watched Drake and Justin Bieber rise from local talent to global stars. They were proof that someone from her part of the world could reach far beyond it. Still, the person she talks about with the most reverence is Viola Davis.

“If I had a dream role, it would be to work with Miss Viola Davis,” Nugara said without hesitation. “She is my love.” 

Nugara is already exploring new corners of her craft. Alongside her on-camera work, she recently stepped into voice acting with the psychological thriller Undertone, directed by longtime friend Ian Clausen, which hit theaters on March 13.

Life is short; keep doing what excites you and makes you feel alive.

Beyond Undertone, there’s more on the horizon, though she’s keeping the details under wraps. She hinted that an upcoming project may arrive closer to the end of the year.

“I can’t actually say [much] because I’m not allowed,” she said, careful but excited. “All I will say is that it is in a completely different world from Heated Rivalry and Tell Me Lies.”

As our conversation wrapped, she left fans with a simple but powerful message: “Life is short; keep doing what excites you and makes you feel alive.”

Keep up with Bianca on her Instagram!

Want to know more about the stars of Heated Rivalry? Check out our exclusive interview with Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova!