Spotlight Interview: Arkie Kandola

Spotlight Interview: Arkie Kandola

Nicole Blakelee

The first thing you notice about Arkie Kandola is how quickly he puts you at ease. “How’s everything going with you? Thank you so much for making time,” he opens, turning what should be an interview into a conversation between friends. It’s this sincere affability, combined with raw comedic talent and steadfast perseverance, that’s helping him carve out space in an industry traditionally resistant to new voices.

The youngest of five boys by a decade, Kandola grew up in what he describes as an “abundant” family, with plenty of action in the house. “Instead of having four older brothers, I kind of had, like five fathers,” he tells me. All of them followed the family path into trucking, building their own businesses. After high school, Kandola started to do the same. For him, it felt like the default option. “I’m not going to school because school wasn’t for me,” he says. But after two years, he realized trucking might not be for him either. “It was just like Groundhog Day, same thing, over and over. The lifestyle was really depressing,” he recalls, his voice growing serious. At 28, unemployed and searching for direction, he found his unexpected break from a contest – a Facebook ad challenging people to enter “If you think you’re Nash enough.” Arkie Kandola did.

“Steve Nash being a local legend, and basketball being my first love, I just thought it was something fun to do,” he explains. The contest required making a commercial, and uploading it for people to vote on. “At that time, the Punjabi community really wasn’t used to having these public contests. When they saw a guy like me, that looks just like them, doing this ridiculous stuff on screen, they gravitated towards it.” The win took him to Los Angeles to shoot a commercial with Nash himself. Suddenly, Kandola found himself in Hollywood, working on set and catching a Lakers game while in town. “I’m just kind of pinching myself like this is life. Like, what? This is what I do now?”

“I was Googling how to slate, and what’s an audition?”

Kandola didn’t ponder his next move for long. “I think just being authentic to myself has really gone a long way. I never really tried to be anybody else. I knew I was funny, from a young age, I always had a crowd around me. And I just love to fool around, so if that wasn’t a message from God kind of choosing my path.” The commercial was swiftly followed up with a YouTube channel where he began creating parodies and character-driven comedy. “I love Saturday Night Live, Mad TV, high-quality comedy,” he explains. “I was just kind of infusing it with my culture.” 

His channel quickly went viral, but as his videos accrued millions of views, not all the attention was positive. “Once you start getting death threats over people just not understanding your content, you have to pivot.” Bolstered by his YouTube momentum, Kandola chose to pursue a harder path – acting.

His critics gave him no pause over the choice to do comedy, or to keep performing. With his audience always in mind, he insists he’s just here to make people smile. “And luckily, my work will live forever. You know, anybody in front of the camera, or even behind the camera – the work speaks for itself forever. So I think that was something that drew me to this career.”

Unlike many actors, Kandola was already booking parts, doing scenes alongside industry veterans like Clive Owen (who he describes as a “legend – very humble, very about the work”) before he seriously considered formal training. “I took acting classes after I started working. I really learned online. I was Googling how to slate, and what’s an audition?” he admits with a laugh. 

Now appearing in Hulu’s “How to Die Alone,” Kandola speaks proudly of what he describes as a historic show. “Led by an amazing Natasha Rothwell – a great leader,” he emphasizes. His versatility shows in roles ranging from “Our Big Punjabi Family” to Hallmark’s “Chicken Sisters.” “I kind of feel like we’re universal,” he says, “There’s no lane or work that we can’t do.”

His comedic influences reveal both his artistic sensibilities and a vision for greater representation. Growing up in Vancouver, Seth Rogen’s success gave him hope. “Being a local boy, I knew if they could make it out of here and do so well in their careers, I had a chance.” His comedic heroes – Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Zach Galifianakis – are performers who transformed what at that time might have been limiting physical characteristics into definitive strengths. “Pretty much the people that looked like me, that were big, that weren’t meant to be leads,” he explains. “Those were the people that I looked up to, that were funny naturally, and their charisma and charm, they were undeniable.”

This focus on indisputable excellence over categorization shapes his entire approach. “I love to be a Punjabi actor, but I’m an actor that happens to be Punjabi,” he explains, thoughtfully parsing the distinction. “I just want to be so good that I’m undeniable.”

It’s easy to notice that Kandola’s success seems to be made equally of determination, curiosity, and an uncanny ability to attract opportunity. “I really do have a deep connection to the spiritual side of things,” he reflects. “I definitely understand the power of manifestation and just love, you know, and the universe.” This foundation helps inform his understanding of his art’s purpose.

“We get to kind of deliver a reality break to a lot of people that kind of need a break from reality daily,” he says, considering his role as an actor. “There’s a lot of stress, a lot of worry, a lot of stuff out there in the world.”

Looking ahead, his manifestations are both personal and universal: “Health, prosperity, opportunity, definitely some season twos,” he says with a knowing smile. “Hopefully some peace in the world… and shit, maybe my O-1 visa, maybe I can manifest that, become a legal immigrant in America.” With his confident ease, it’s hard not to imagine he could conjure every dream through sheer intention.

I can’t resist asking how he maintains his unwavering motivation. Kandola answers with a story from his basketball days. “I was one of the best shooters in the province. Everybody knew I was skilled. So there was this one game, we were playing at home, the gym’s packed, and I’m warming up. The head coach came over to me, and I’m thinking, this is my time, I’m gonna start. And he goes, ‘Hey, Arkie… we don’t got a scorekeeper. Do you mind keeping score?’” He pauses, letting the moment land. “I used to be the player that, in warm-ups, I’d never miss a shot. And then I’d just go sit on the bench. That was the initial place of learning persistence, learning to just be ready, stay ready.”

In an era where Hollywood is finally beginning to reflect the world’s diversity, Kandola represents a new wave of talent – artists who’ve built careers without industry connections or conventional paths. He represents hope that talent and perseverance can still open doors. And in that pursuit, he remains exactly what he’s been from the start: undeniable.

You can watch Arkie Kandola in “How to Die Alone” now on Hulu and Disney+, and in “Chicken Sisters” on Hallmark.