Jo Vannicola (born 20 April 1968), formerly known as Joanne Vannicola, is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actor. They are most noted for their roles as Dr. Naadiah in ''

Being Erica ''Being Erica'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that aired on CBC from January 5, 2009, to December 12, 2011. Created by Jana Sinyor, the series was originally announced by the CBC as ''The Session'', but was later retitled ''Bei ...

'', Dr. Mia Stone in ''

PSI Factor ''Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal'' is a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all ...

'', Jerri in ''

Love and Human Remains ''Love and Human Remains'' is a 1993 Canadian film directed by Denys Arcand and based on Brad Fraser's stage play ''Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love''. Fraser also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. The film version ...

'', Sam in '' Stonewall'', Renee in '' Slasher: Guilty Party'', Amber Ciotti in '' Slasher: Solstice'' and '' Slasher: Flesh and Blood'', as well as voice roles in ''

Crash Canyon ''Crash Canyon'' is a Canadian adult animated sitcom which premiered on Teletoon at Night in Canada and was distributed globally by MTV. The show was first premiered on September 18, 2011 with the final episode aired on March 3, 2013. Plot It told ...

'' and ''

My Dad the Rock Star ''My Dad the Rock Star'' is a traditionally-animated television series created by KISS bassist Gene Simmons, co-produced by Nelvana and Carrere Group for France's M6 and Canada's Teletoon. The series aired on Nickelodeon and Kids WB! in the U.S ...

''. Vannicola came out as

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

in their 2019 memoir ''All We Knew But Couldn't Say''.Norman Wilner
"Joanne Vannicola wants to push Canadian film beyond gender binaries"
''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

'', 18 June 2019.

Background

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

,"Montreal native keeps her seat in Derby movie". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', 15 June 1995. Vannicola began their career as a child, and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

in their teens to attend the Toronto School for the Performing Arts.

Career

Vannicola had their first prominent role in the teen drama series '' 9B'', for which they received a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

nomination for Best Actress in a Continuing Dramatic Role in 1989. In 1991, they won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Performance in a Children's Special in '' Maggie's Secret'', and in 1994 they received a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the film ''Love and Human Remains''. Vannicola has also appeared in films and television series such as '' Common Ground,'' ''

Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce ''Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce'' (also known as ''Girlfriends' Guide to Freedom'' in season 3, ''Girlfriends' Guide to Bossing Up'' in season 4, and ''Girlfriends' Guide to Ever After'' in season 5) is an American comedy-drama television series ...

'', ''

Rookie Blue ''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police drama television series starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith. It was created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron, and Ellen Vanstone. The series premiered on June 24, 2010, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/8 ...

'', '' Slasher'', ''

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler in 1979. It is centred on a multigenerational teen drama about an ensemble cast of teenagers attending the namesake Toronto school as they navigate their ad ...

'', '' Stardom'', ''Betrayal of Silence'', ''The Ultimate Betrayal'', '' Relic Hunter'', '' Mutant X'', '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'', ''

Night Heat ''Night Heat'' is a Canadian police crime drama series that aired on both CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. Original episodes were broadcast from 1985 to 1989. ''Night Heat'' was the first Canadian original drama series that was also ...

'' and ''Derby''. In 2019, they appeared in the '' Street Legal'' reboot as Sam, a non-binary supporting character who was planned to have a more prominent storyline in the second season, although the reboot was cancelled after six episodes. Joanne received an

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.

nomination for Best Voice Performance in 2009. They wrote and directed their first short film, ''SNIP'', in 2017. In 2019, Vannicola published their memoir, ''All We Knew But Couldn't Say'', with

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history, biography, politics and arts. Dundurn has about 2500 books in print, ...

Personal life

Vannicola founded a non-profit organization to raise awareness about child abuse, ''Youth Out Loud'', in 2004. An out

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

prior to coming out as non-binary, Vannicola was a prominent campaigner for

same-sex marriage in Canada Same-sex marriage in Canada was progressively introduced in several provinces by court decisions beginning in 2003 before being legally recognized nationwide with the enactment of the ''Civil Marriage Act'' on July 20, 2005. On June 10, 2003, th ...

and is the current chair of outACTRAto,

ACTRA The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The org ...

's advocacy and support committee for

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

performers. Vannicola holds a certificate from the creative writing program at University of Toronto, and was selected for the Diaspora Dialogues program in Toronto in 2013."Emerging Author of the Month: Joanne Vannicola"
''Diaspora Dialogues'', 6 January 2014.

Filmography

Film

Television

Voice work

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vannicola, Joanne 1968 births Actors from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Canadian memoirists Canadian television actors Canadian voice actors Canadian film actors Living people LGBT actors from Canada Canadian non-binary actors Canadian non-binary writers LGBT rights activists from Canada Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian actors 21st-century Canadian actors 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers LGBT memoirists 21st-century memoirists Queer actors Queer writers Non-binary voice actors