Ngozi Paul is a Canadian stage and screen actress, writer, director and producer. She is best known as the creator, executive producer, and actress of Global TV's comedic drama ''

Da Kink in My Hair ''Da Kink in My Hair'' is a play by Trey Anthony, which debuted at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2001. The play's central character is Novelette, the Caribbean Canadian owner of Letty's, a Toronto hair salon. Novelette is forced to confront her ...

''.

Early life

Paul was born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, to a father from

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

and a mother from

St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

. She is the younger sister of former

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada () is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It elected its first member of ...

leader,

Annamie Paul Annamie Paul (born November 3, 1972) is a Canadian activist, lawyer, and former politician who served as the leader of the Green Party of Canada from 2020 to 2021. She was the first Black Canadians, Black Canadian and first Jewish Canadian, Jew ...

. With academic roots in Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre, Ngozi began her acting career on stage at the

Stratford Festival of Canada The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

Career

In 2003, Paul was listed as one of Toronto's top ten actors by ''

Now Magazine ''Now'' (styled as ''NOW''), also known as ''NOW Magazine'' is an online publication based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Through most of its existence, ''Now'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper. Physical publication of ''Now'' was suspended ...

''.
She is the recipient of the Tyrone Guthrie Award for her work with the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

, 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 Charles Officer (October 28, 1975 – December 1, 2023) was a Canadian film and television director, writer, actor, and professional hockey player. Early life and education Charles Officer was born in Toronto, Ontario on October 28, 1972. He ...

Genie GEnie (General Electric Network for Information Exchange) was an online service provider, online service created by a General Electric business, GEIS (now GXS Inc., GXS), that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around ...

-nominated film ''

Short Hymn, Silent War ''Short Hymn, Silent War'' is a 2002 Canadian short drama film, directed by Charles Officer. The film centres on four Black Canadian women coping with an epidemic of gun violence in their community. The film's cast includes Ngozi Paul, Mpho Ko ...

'', featured at the 2004

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. 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! ''Lord Have Mercy!'' is a Canadian television sitcom, produced by Leda Serene Films, first shown on Vision TV in 2003. It received further showings in Canada on Toronto One, APTN and Showcase later the same year. The series, one of the first ...

'' (2003). Paul was a participant of Talent Lab, a four-day program for emerging filmmakers interested in mobile movie filmmaking. Following a run of the theatre production

, Ngozi co-created, executive produced, and starred in the television series of the same name (2007-2009). In 2015, Paul's ''The Emancipation of Ms. Lovely''—which she penned and in which she starred—was nominated for six

Dora awards The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore ...

and won Outstanding New Play. This tale weaves Paul's personal stories with the story of

Sarah Baartman Sarah Baartman (; 1789 – 29 December 1815), also spelled Sara, sometimes in the diminutive form Saartje (), or Saartjie, and Bartman, Bartmann, was a Khoekhoe woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under ...

(aka The Venus Hottentot) in a transcontinental allegory on the black woman's multitudinous identity. ''Lovely'' prompted Toronto's ''

'' to write, “The magnetic Paul holds every moment onstage in a fierce, funny and moving performance.” She currently has a docu-series on-air entitled ''Care for Color'' and is in development of The 1st Time Project, a multi-platform documentary exploring female sexuality from inter-generational and inter-cultural perspectives. Paul raises 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 ''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run at the Westside Theatre. The play explores ...

'' with proceeds helping local organizations that assist women in abusive relationships. Paul has been a global ambassador for Because I'm A Girl and the

Stephen Lewis Foundation The Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) is a non-governmental organization that assists mostly AIDS- and HIV-related grassroots projects in Africa. History The foundation was started by Stephen Lewis, a former Leader of the Official Opposition (Ontar ...

Works

Stage

Television

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Ngozi Living people Actresses from Toronto Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian television producers Canadian women television producers Black Canadian actresses Canadian people of Dominica descent Canadian people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent Canadian Film Centre alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Dora Mavor Moore Award winners