Chenée Taylor

Chenée Taylor does not stop being funny when Tiana has something to worry about. In Just Act Normal (2025), she plays a capable older sister under pressure, and we recommend the series in large part for her performance. The comic work gives Tiana more to do than demonstrate how difficult her life is. Taylor makes the responsibility convincing without making it the only thing worth noticing about her. We were moved by the three young leads because they made the family strain felt while giving us people whose company we liked.

The short 2AM (2024), in which she played Abbi, came before this first major television role. Guest work as Judy in Run Away (2026) and a supporting part as Adeshola in Falling (2026) followed. There is too little here to establish a pattern across several performances. Our enthusiasm rests on Tiana; we would rather be specific about what Taylor achieves there than turn a short list of credits into evidence of versatility.

Beside Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie’s Tanika and Akins Subair’s Tionne, Taylor helps make the family worth spending time with even when its troubles are difficult to watch. All three handle comedy and distress in close succession without overplaying either. Their confidence lets us attend to the people rather than the difficulty of the acting task. The humour is important in its own right, and Taylor deserves credit for treating it as seriously as the more obviously affecting material.

The caveat concerns the programme’s demands, rather than Taylor’s performance. Its closeness to family distress can make six episodes a demanding evening, despite the humour. We would be interested to see what she does with someone less capable, or less obliged to be. That need not mean abandoning comedy, which is already a substantial reason to watch her. Give Just Act Normal an attentive episode before deciding whether its family troubles are company for a whole evening.