Ngozi Paul is a Canadian award-winning stage and on screen actress, writer, director and producer. Best known as the creator, executive producer, and actress on Global TV hit comedic drama Da Kink in My Hair.
Early life
Paul was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, to a father from Dominica and a mother from St. Kitts and Nevis, her upbringing created the foundation for her work as a social and cultural innovator. With academic roots in the prestigious , Ngozi began her acting career on stage at the Stratford Festival of Canada.
Biography
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 and Rachel Weisz. In 2003, Paul was listed as one of Toronto's top ten actors by Now Magazine. 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!. 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. 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 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 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 and the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
