Bilal Baig

Zaiba Baig (born Bilal Baig, 1995 ) is a Canadian writer and actor. They are best known for their play Acha Bacha and CBC series Sort Of (2021–2023).

Career Acha Bacha, a play which centers on a Pakistani-Canadian non-binary person struggling to reconcile their gender with their Muslim upbringing, was staged in a joint production by Theatre Passe Muraille and Buddies in Bad Times in 2018, and presented at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace.

Baig is the co-creator, co-writer, and star of Sort Of, a CBC Television comedy series centering on a genderfluid character.

Sort Of was the top winner overall in television categories at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 and Baig shared the award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series with writing partner Fab Filippo. Baig had declined to submit their performance for 2022 award consideration due to the gendered categories of Best Actor in a Comedy Series and Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Subsequently, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced that beginning with the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, gender-neutral awards for Best Performance would be presented instead of gendered actor and actress categories Baig was the winner of the inaugural Canadian Screen Award for Best Leading Performance in a Comedy Series at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, in addition to their second award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series, again shared with Fab Fillipo.

In June 2025, Buddies in Bad Times announced the production of Begging Brown Bitch Plays, a show combining Baig's one-act plays Kainchee Lagaa and Jhooti, for the 2025-26 season. It ran from April 1–18, 2026.

Personal life Baig was raised in Mississauga, Ontario, by Pakistani immigrant parents. They use both she/her and they/them pronouns. They do not have a close relationship with their parents and only revealed their identity and career to them through email a week before the premiere of Sort Of. Though their parents' reactions were more positive than expected, Baig found it upsetting, stating "No one was really trying to make a deep connection."

In January 2026, Baig stated in a story on their Instagram account that they had changed their name to Zaiba, alongside a request to no longer use their deadname.

Credits Writing

Television Year Title Notes 2021–2023 Sort Of 11 episodes; co-creator

Theatre

Year Title Director(s) Theatre 2018 Acha Bacha Brendan Healy Theatre Passe Muraille 2026 Kainchee Lagaa Peabody AwardsEntertainmentSort Of Dayne Ogilvie PrizeLGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers Zaiba Baig for Acha Bacha 10th Canadian Screen AwardsBest Writing, ComedyZaiba Baig, Fab Filippo 202311th Canadian Screen AwardsBest Lead Performer, ComedyZaiba Baig Best Writing, ComedyZaiba Baig, Fab Filippo