Sitara Hewitt
Toronto 43° 39' 12.53" N, 79° 23' 2.16" W Actor Person
Sitara Hewitt is a Canadian film and television actress.
Sitara is the daughter of Dr. Kenneth Hewitt and Dr. Farida Azhar-Hewitt, two professors from Wilfrid Laurier University and was raised primarily in Elora, Ontario. During her childhood she spent four years on and off between the ages of 4 and 13 in Pakistan's Himalayan mountains, specifically in the Hunza Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan where her parents did their academic field research on Northern Pakistan's glaciers, valleys and small villages.
Hewitt is the youngest of four siblings. Her Pakistani mother and Welsh father are both academics whose research has led them all over the world. Hewitt is married to American actor/trainer Jessie Pavelka and divides her time between Toronto and Los Angeles. She is fluent in both Urdu and English and semi fluent in Balti. She was raised Christian as both of her parents are Anglican Christians.
Hewitt stars on CBC Television's Little Mosque on the Prairie as Dr. Rayyan Hamoudi. Little Mosque on the Prairie airs in 60 countries worldwide. She was also a co-host on the Comedy Network's Jeopardy style pop-culture game show You Bet Your Ass.
Previously, she made the transition from professional dancer to actor and performed in theatre productions like Crimes of the Heart and Second City's Tony and Tina's Wedding as Tina. Making her start as a dancer in Bollywood/Hollywood, she continued on with acting training and soon began to land lead roles in independent films like Fragile and Bolly Double. She also hosted TV shows for Sportsnet and TSN while studying acting in Toronto, and trained with World Wrestling Entertainment in the United States.
She has also been involved with numerous multicultural initiatives, such as appearing on stage as a special guest at Toronto's Dundas Square as part of the 'Pakistan Fest' May 2007, South Asian Heritage Month celebration.