Ngozi Paul

Ngozi Paul is an award-winning Canadian stage and screen actress, writer, director and producer. She is best known as the creator, executive producer, and actress of the Global TV hit comedic drama Da Kink in My Hair.

Ngozi Paul
Ngozi Paul at the 7th Annual Canadian Filmmakers’ Party, in September 2012
Born	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Education	National Screen Institute Stratford Birmingham Conservatory Canadian Film Centre Film Lab
Occupation	Actress, Writer, Director, Producer
Relatives	Annamie Paul (sister)
Website	http://ngozipaul.com/ http://emancipationarts.com/

Early life

Paul was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, to a father from Dominica and a mother from St. Kitts and Nevis. She is the younger sister of Green Party of Canada leader, Annamie Paul. Her upbringing created the foundation for her work as a social and cultural innovator. With academic roots in Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre,[1] Ngozi began her acting career on stage at the Stratford Festival of Canada.

Career

During the course of her professional career, Paul has worked in theatre and film projects and with performers such as Tonya Lee Williams, star of the popular daytime drama The Young and the Restless. In addition, Ngozi has been cast, most notably, with fellow actors Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Talk to Me) and Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower).

In 2003, Paul was listed as one of Toronto's top ten actors by Now Magazine.[2] She is the recipient of the prestigious Tyrone Guthrie Award for her work with the Stratford Festival, and was Best Actress nominee at the International Black Film Festival for her performance in the film Banyan. She played a leading role in Charles Officer’s Genie-nominated film Short Hymn, Silent War, featured at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. More recently, Paul played a young Nelson Mandela in the Toronto production of the screenplay In the Freedom of Dreams: The Story of Nelson Mandela.

Paul’s production credits include founding Ngozika Productions, which showcases film and TV projects from an Afro-Canadian perspective. In addition to being co-producer of the Tonya Williams Gospel Jubilee, Paul served as the creative director, associate producer, story editor and as a writer on the Gemini-nominated series Lord Have Mercy! (2003). Paul was a participant of Talent Lab, a four-day intensive program for emerging filmmakers interested in mobile movie filmmaking.

Following the groundbreaking and successful run of the theatre production Da Kink in My Hair, Ngozi co-created, executive produced, and starred in the television series of the same name (2007-2009). This top-rated sitcom has been broadcast and celebrated around the world.

In 2015, Paul's The Emancipation of Ms. Lovely—which she penned and in which she starred—was nominated for six Dora awards and won Outstanding New Play. This hilarious and evocative tale weaves Paul’s personal stories with the story of Sarah Baartman (aka The Venus Hottentot) in a transcontinental allegory on the black woman’s multitudinous identity. Lovely prompted Toronto’s Now Magazine to write, “The magnetic Paul holds every moment onstage in a fierce, funny and moving performance.” Paul remains steadfast in her mission to produce innovative, evocative, and compelling content that showcases the diversity of human experience. She currently has a docu-series on-air entitled Care for Color and is in advanced development of The 1st Time Project, a multi-platform documentary exploring female sexuality from inter-generational and inter-cultural  perspectives.

Paul donates her time and talents towards raising awareness for social issues such as domestic violence and homophobia within the West Indian community. In 2005, she was a celebrity cast member for the Toronto performance of The Vagina Monologues with proceeds helping local organizations assist women in abusive relationships. Paul has traveled the world extensively in both personal and professional capacities, most notably as a global ambassador for Because I’m A Girl and the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Works

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Produced By
2010	Fernando Krapp Wrote Me This Letter	Performer – Julia	Canadian Stage
2015	The Watershed	Performer	Crow's Theatre and Porte Parole
2015	The Emancipation of Ms. Lovely	Performer, Playwright	Ngozika Productions and Pandemic Theatre
2016	The Watershed	Performer	Crow's Theatre and Porte Parole
2017	The Emancipation of Ms. Lovely	Performer, Playwright	Crow's Theatre and Emancipation Arts
2017	A&R Angels	Performer	Crow's Theatre
2018	Love and Information	Performer	Canadian Stage

Television

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Performer	Role	Notes
2001	Leap Year			Yes	Female Assistant	Episode 1.20
2004	Kink In My Hair			Yes	Starr	TV Movie
2007-2009	Da Kink In My Hair	Yes	Yes	Yes	Starr
2008	Embracing Da Kink			Yes	Herself	TV Documentary
2011	The Hour			Yes	Herself	Episode 8.31
2013	Katie Chats			Yes	Herself
2015	Care For Color	Yes		Yes	Herself

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Performer	Role	Notes
2002	Short Hymn, Silent War				Yes	Ruth
2004	Lord Have Mercy		Yes				4 Episodes: "The Flesh is Weak" "Tangled Web" "Deranged Marriage" and "Backsliding"
2007	Talk To Me				Yes	Susan
2011	The First Time	Yes		Yes
2012	Night Light			Yes	Yes	Friend
2018	The Mission				Yes	Justice

References

1. "Ngozi Paul | Tarragon Theatre". Retrieved 4 October 2020.

External links

• Ngozi Paul at IMDb