Andrew Phung didn't just want to make another sitcom about a family. He wanted to make something that felt like the Canada he actually knew—the messy, loud, competitive, and deeply loyal version of suburban life that usually gets ignored for more "glitzy" city stories. When you look at the run the burbs cast, it’s pretty obvious they caught lightning in a bottle. It isn't just about big names. It’s about a specific kind of chemistry that makes you believe these people actually live in a cul-de-sac together.
Sitcoms live or die on their ensembles. You can have the funniest script in the world, but if the dad and the daughter don't feel like they've shared a breakfast table for fifteen years, the audience smells the fake. Phung, coming off the massive success of Kim’s Convenience, knew he needed a group that could handle rapid-fire improv energy while staying grounded in the "Phamily" dynamic.
The Heart of the Phamily: Andrew Phung and Rakhee Morzaria
Andrew Phung plays Andrew Pham. He's the guy who wants to be the "king of the cul-de-sac." Honestly, Phung is playing a version of himself here—high energy, sneaker-obsessed, and genuinely earnest. But the show would be exhausting if he didn't have a perfect foil.
Enter Rakhee Morzaria as Camille.
Morzaria is a force. Before this, she was doing incredible work on Note to Self and Total Drama Island, but as Camille, she brings a sharpness that balances Andrew’s chaos. They don't do the "dumb husband/nagging wife" trope. Thank God. Instead, they’re a team. They’re competitive together. They’re "ride or die" in a way that feels modern and, frankly, much more relatable than the sitcom tropes we grew up with in the 90s.
The casting of an Asian-Canadian dad and an Indo-Canadian mom isn't just a diversity checkbox. It’s the DNA of the show. It changes how they talk about food, how they interact with their parents, and how they navigate the world, but it’s done with a light touch. It's just their life.
The Kids Who Actually Act Like Kids
Zhuig Abany and Candyce Weir play the kids, Leo and Khia.
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In a lot of shows, child actors are either weirdly precocious "tiny adults" or they’re just background noise. Not here. Khia, played by Weir, feels like a real teenager navigating her identity and her activism without being a caricature of Gen Z. Leo is just... Leo. He's a bit of a weirdo in the best way possible.
- Candyce Weir brings a groundedness to Khia that serves as the moral compass of the house.
- Zhuig Abany captures that specific "younger brother" energy where he’s trying to keep up with the adults but is still very much a kid.
Their presence makes the Pham house feel lived-in. When they argue over the remote or a family tradition, it feels earned because the actors have clearly spent enough time off-camera to build that sibling shorthand.
The Neighbors: Building a Cul-de-Sac Community
You can't have a show called Run the Burbs without the neighbors. This is where the run the burbs cast really starts to shine because the supporting players are absolute scene-stealers.
The suburban setting of Rockridge needs to feel populated by people you’d actually see at a block party.
Roman and the Diversity of Perspective
Chris Locke plays Hudson. If you know the Canadian comedy scene, you know Locke. He’s a stand-up vet who brings a very specific, slightly awkward, but incredibly lovable vibe to the show. He’s the neighbor who’s always there. Then you have Julie Nolke as Sam. Nolke became a viral sensation during the pandemic for her "Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self" videos, and her comedic timing is lethal.
Putting Locke and Nolke in the same orbit as the Phams creates this friction that drives the B-plots. It’s not about "us vs. them." It’s about how these different personality types try to coexist in a space where everyone knows your business.
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Why This Cast Works Better Than Most Sitcoms
Most sitcoms fail because they try too hard to be "universal." By trying to appeal to everyone, they end up feeling like they’re from nowhere. Run the Burbs is unapologetically about a specific place.
The cast reflects the changing face of the North American suburbs. It’s not the monochromatic Leave It to Beaver world anymore. It’s a mix of cultures, languages, and backgrounds. The actors bring their own lived experiences to these roles. When Camille talks about her heritage, it doesn't sound like a scriptwriter’s Wikipedia search; it sounds like Morzaria’s own voice.
There’s also a lack of cynicism.
In a TV landscape dominated by "prestige dramas" where everyone is miserable, the run the burbs cast seems to be having a genuine blast. That joy is infectious. It’s hard to watch Andrew Phung get overly excited about a community event and not crack a smile.
The Evolution Across Seasons
As the show progressed into its later seasons, the ensemble grew. We saw more of the extended family, including the arrival of Andrew’s father, played by the legendary Thanh Nguyen. These additions didn't crowd the screen; they gave the core cast more room to grow.
- Character Growth: We saw Camille go back to work, which shifted the power dynamics in the house.
- Teenage Rebellion: Khia’s storylines became more complex as she started looking toward life after high school.
- Community Stakes: The stakes moved from "who's the best neighbor" to actual issues affecting the neighborhood.
By the time the show reached its stride, the cast felt like a real community. You weren't just watching actors on a set in Hamilton (where much of it is filmed); you were looking into a window of a real neighborhood.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Show
People often dismiss "family sitcoms" as being low-stakes or "easy." They think you just put funny people in a room and wait for the magic.
But comedy is hard. Specifically, suburban comedy is hard because it relies on the mundane. You have to make a plot about a lawnmower or a school bake sale interesting. The run the burbs cast does this by leaning into the emotional reality of the characters. They make the small things feel big because, in the suburbs, the small things are big.
A missed trash day is a crisis. A neighbor not waving back is a declaration of war.
The cast understands this "suburban heightened reality." They play the stakes as if they’re in a Shakespearean tragedy, which is exactly why the comedy lands so well.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Aspiring Creators
If you’re watching Run the Burbs or looking to understand why this specific group of actors works so well together, keep these points in mind:
- Chemistry over Fame: The show didn't lead with a massive A-list star. It led with Andrew Phung—a beloved Canadian figure—and surrounded him with incredible talent from the improv and stand-up worlds. Talent beats "clout" every time.
- Representation Matters for Storytelling, Not Just Optics: The diverse backgrounds of the cast allow for stories that a standard "white picket fence" sitcom simply couldn't tell. It opens up new avenues for conflict and humor.
- Support the Canadian Industry: Much of the cast came up through the Canadian comedy circuit (The Second City, various stand-up clubs). Supporting local talent pipelines leads to more authentic, high-quality television like this.
- Binge the Full Arc: To really see the chemistry develop, you have to watch the transition from Season 1 to Season 3. The shorthand between the actors becomes much more visible as they spend more time together.
The legacy of the run the burbs cast is that they proved you could make a "nice" show that wasn't "boring." They showed that the suburbs are vibrant, diverse, and hilariously chaotic. Whether you're a long-time fan of Andrew Phung or just discovering the Pham family for the first time, it’s the people on screen that keep you coming back to Rockridge.
To dive deeper into the world of Canadian television, check out the backgrounds of the guest stars who pop up in Rockridge; many are veterans of the Toronto and Vancouver comedy scenes, bringing a wealth of experience to even the smallest roles. Watching the show through the lens of its production—often filmed in real suburban neighborhoods—adds another layer of appreciation for how the cast interacts with their environment. Keep an eye on the upcoming projects from Rakhee Morzaria and Andrew Phung, as their work here has solidified them as anchors of the modern sitcom landscape.