Martina Kelades on Conveying the Impact of Grief in Bell Fibe TV1’s Things Like These

Life never pulls its punches. While it’s beautiful in its messy complexities, it’s certainly not easy to navigate. Bell Fibe TV1’s latest dark comedy series, Things Like These, aims to convey a truthful depiction of life’s lows and how our collective resilience, strength, and love help keep us afloat. It follows the James family as they navigate deep pain and a broken dynamic. The matriarch, Veruca, a single mother, struggles to hold her family together in the wake of profound loss.

Recently, I had the privilege of chatting with Martina Kelades, who plays Veruca, about tapping into her character, what audiences can expect from the series, the importance of mental health discussions in Black families, and more.

This interview is edited for length and clarity. 

Martina Kelades

Eulalie Magazine: I want to talk to you about your origin story. How did you get into acting?

Martina Kelades: My origin story happened unexpectedly. I didn’t really intend to be in the industry at the time. My background is in personal development counseling facilitation, and I did that for 10 years. Then, I burned out, and that ended that career. I wanted to launch a business that held safe spaces to have conversations around mental health in the workplace. I started that business and launched it in January of 2020. We know what happened in the spring of March 2020.

It just felt like the whole world was crumbling. At the time, I was still in burnout recovery. Organizations were reaching out from everywhere, asking me to support their employees. But I needed a creative place to play. I started doing what everyone else was doing, making TikTok videos. I love Tyler Perry’s Madea character. So, I ordered this wig online and got a nightgown and stuffed this oversized bra and just made these ridiculous videos of Madea as a way of sharing love, light, and laughter in the world.

I continued sharing lighthearted videos. That’s when my first agent reached out and asked if I was an actor. I was like, “No, but I’ll try. I want to try.” From there, I signed with them and had my first audition, which I booked. It was a tourism commercial. Then, I started booking other roles and was in the union pretty quickly. It has taken off from there. It’s not what I had originally planned, but I do believe [it’s] a place where I’m meant to be.

Things Like These

Eulalie Magazine: Let’s talk about Things Like These. Can you tell me what it’s about and how you got involved with the show?

Martina Kelades: I was originally approached by the writer and creator, Nikki Martin. The story was based on a novel she had written over 20 years ago. A lot of it is based on her own experiences with grief and loss and substance use. When she was ready to create it as a screenplay, she reached out and asked if I would be interested in playing Veruca.

This series is a dark comedy. It explores various themes around resilience, family, love, loss. I play Veruca, a widowed mom experiencing her own grief and pain while also trying to support her children [and] their own experiences. There’s a lot of heaviness. There’s also a lot of humor. I like to tell people, both joy and sorrow exist simultaneously within this series.

I think it’s an interesting way of understanding that this is real life. This is truly a human story where it’s not neat and tidy. It’s not a story that will give us answers — it’s a story about a human experience. It’s about a family that really is trying their best and a mother who’s trying to support and protect the best way she can, given the tools she has.

There’s a lot of grief within it. I think it’s really interesting to see how joy and sorrow play opposite, but also exist side by side. I think that’s what makes this story, this series, so powerful. It’s because it is so honest. We don’t try to simplify the human experience. This encourages us, even as the audience, to witness each of these characters as they navigate life the best way they know how. I think that’s incredibly relatable.

Eulalie Magazine: Describe this series using three words.

Martina Kelades: Human. Duality. Love.

Expect to Be Moved

Eulalie Magazine: What can viewers expect when they watch Things Like These?

Martina Kelades: I would say to be moved in some way. I think there is certainly an emotional intensity right from the beginning. Every time that I’ve read the script, I have been moved and have teared up in different places because there’s something so delicate about holding the story and also the character. I feel a great honor but also responsibility playing Veruca.

I believe audiences will be impacted in some way because of the emotional complexity we often carry as people behind closed doors. Things Like These is interested in what happens when life collides with those extraordinary internal experiences that keep us functioning and loving. But also, we’re struggling in different ways that aren’t always visible.

I think viewers will maybe even reflect on that in their own personal lives. That’s why this is such a powerful story to tell. It doesn’t try to resolve everything, but it does provide this space for people to feel. That’s why I say, “Come experience, come witness, come feel with all of us.” This is really a story that is layered and is so beautifully messy at the same time.

A Balancing Act

Eulalie Magazine: How do you prepare for a role like this where, as you say, this character is navigating all this pain and having to hold it together for her family, but then you also have this dark, comedic, absurdist setting?

Martina Kelades: Like I say to so many people: life. We were supposed to go to camera last year, and it just didn’t work out. What’s so interesting is that the timing of this actually lined up better with the season in my own life because last year was rough. Last few years, actually.

Eulalie Magazine: I’m sorry to hear that.

Martina Kelades: Thank you. Also, I appreciate these seasons and chapters in our lives because they don’t last forever, but they also teach something to carry forward on the journey.

That’s why I believe that when we started filming in January of this year, I felt like I was finally in a place where I was ready to let go of that weight. Playing Veruca really gave me that opportunity to honor it in real time. When we watched the private screening, I could see how tired I was. It wasn’t just playing the character. I’m also feeling these things personally.

It’s so beautiful to see the journey she had throughout the series, like finding her way and having hard conversations. That’s what we do, and that’s what I’ve also been doing in my personal life. I’m grateful for the hard seasons because they do help with character development and also help with our own understanding of life. It was really interesting in the preparation work.

Also, the director, Tobi Martin Flemming, the sister of the writer-creator, had some really great conversations with us ahead of time. She asked each of us to prepare our own playlist that resembles the character and the emotions we had even reading the script. That was a great opportunity for me, even on set, to tap into my playlist when I’m feeling different things and just lean into that moment and that emotion. That really helped with character development and the performance.

Storytelling is about life. My business is called Life Out Loud. We talk about these experiences, and we share them. It’s an opportunity for others to be reflective, experience growth, and witness their own transformation through different things.

Vital Discussions

Eulalie Magazine: How does the show explore the importance of mental health discussions within Black families?

Martina Kelades: First and foremost, it provides an example. It models conversations that, again, aren’t neat and tidy. It models conversations that aren’t traditionally traumatic. There were some really soft moments we had as a family, and also some difficult conversations we had to have about change and substance use.

Creating that space and screen to see a successful Black family still in struggle and also having resources and trying to figure it out together as a family unit is powerful. A lot of times what we see is that there is this disconnect that, generationally, we have numbed and used substances to avoid hard conversations, to avoid mental illness because there was a time that it wasn’t even identified.

My grandmother and great-grandmother’s generation, they didn’t label [it]. They didn’t have language for mental health issues. Within my family, it was substance use, like alcohol and substances were used to avoid and to numb. Here, I have the opportunity to play a character, but also in my other work to speak about my mental health challenges.

For me, it feels like I’m breaking that chain, that generational trauma, and showing the world we don’t have to suffer silently. When people witness it, they’ll see something different. They’ll see the power and the resilience within the family despite the struggle seen externally and the issues that surround them. I hope it opens up more conversations within families to say, “Oh, yes, there was a time when your uncle was really struggling.”

You never know the power that it can have to activate something within someone to start open dialogue around mental health. Who knows? I truly believe it is going to be a conductor of more conversations and a conduit to bridge the gap between those places where people feel stuck and silenced and to wanting to be free from this internal struggle.

On the Horizon

Eulalie Magazine: What else is on the horizon for you, career-wise?

Martina Kelades: There are a few projects coming out. One is my first lead role in a short narrative.

Eulalie Magazine: Congratulations.

Martina Kelades: Another project that I had actually worked on years ago is now in completion. That will be moving through the festival circuit as well.

Life is taking you on a journey. I always say there’s a time for everything. There’s a time and a season for everything. 2025, as I mentioned, was a challenging year, although it was a year I needed. It was a year of rest. I always believe that when those slower seasons come, it gives you the opportunity to build capacity for the things that are about to come. I’m grateful it was slower. I’m just going to continue to audition and really focus on sharpening my skills.

Eulalie Magazine: Have you watched anything interesting lately?

Martina Kelades: I really fell in love with Boston Blue this past season. Then, I had the opportunity to play a role in that as well. That was really exciting. I’ve gone back to Abbott Elementary.

There’s a part of me that’s really curious about comedy. I don’t consider myself a comedic actor. I’m more like drama. I’m really just starting to explore comedy and dream. Maybe one day, I’ll have an opportunity.

Eulalie Magazine: Last question. Name your five favorite things to watch. 

Martina Kelades: Save the Last Dance. The Grinch. This Is Us. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The original, I should say. Abbott Elementary.

There’s something about Save the Last Dance and seeing Kerry Washington. I grew up in a very rural white community. We didn’t have access to even BET to see various shows with Black characters or Black families, except for Fresh Prince and The Cosby Show, of course. It was CBS. So, I remember watching Save the Last Dance, and I just immediately fell in love with Kerry Washington. She’s one of my favorite actresses.

All five episodes of Things Like These are now streaming on Bell Fibe TV1. Be sure to follow Martina on Instagram (@martinakelades) and check out her site to keep up to date.

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