The Actor Behind Nadja From Human Resources Is Getting Her Own Show

In the fourth episode of Netflix’s Human Resources, viewers are introduced to Nadja just as she’s about to have sex with her girlfriend Danielle. Shortly after the mind-blowing encounter, Nadja finds out she’s been accepted to Berkeley, forcing her to choose between her dream college and her “dream girl,” who she’d planned to attend school with.

The character is voiced by comic and writer Sabrina Jalees, who shared her excitement about her casting after the Human Resources trailer dropped on March 1. “IT’S FINALLY COMING TO REAL LIFE,” she wrote, referencing the opening sex scene. “Do I kinda orgasm on this series and is this the second time I’ve been hired to kinda orgasm? Yes and yes.”

Jalees is hardly a Netflix newcomer. In addition to being in the writer’s room for both Human Resources and the original Big Mouth series, the 36-year-old Toronto native — who is half Pakistani, half Swiss, and identifies as queer — performed a set for the streamer’s The Comedy Lineup in 2018. Outside of Netflix, Jalees has written for the TBS-turned-HBO-Max comedy Search Party and appeared as the “casually gay” medical intern Dr. Lexie Gilani in the CBS sitcom Carol’s Second Act alongside Patricia Heaton and Kyle MacLachlan. She can next be seen as a team captain on The CW’s Would I Lie To You adaptation, premiering on April 9.

In December, Deadline reported that Peacock was developing Landing, a single-camera comedy that Jalees created, wrote, and will also executive produce. Inspired by her life, the ensemble comedy “follows a family of queer friends in their mid-20s living in Brooklyn trying to get somewhere and be someone before they’re priced out of their apartments and their dreams.” A premiere date has not yet been announced.

During a June 2019 HuffPost interview, Jalees likened herself to the “lesbian Ray Romano” while discussing the many hats she wears in the television industry. “There’s a limitless aspect to writing for animation and you can go for jokes that don’t necessarily have to be super grounded [in reality],” she explained. “I get excited for both, and it’s really fun to be in the Big Mouth room. They have really smart, funny people in the room. Queer people. ... The room is stacked with people that I would be stoked to have a drink with, so being able to giggle and doodle with them all day is fun.”

Surely, she had a similar experience on Human Resources.