Amanda Joy
Canadian actress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amanda Joy is a Canadian actress, screenwriter, comedian, satirist, and producer. She is best known for co-creating and starring in the Omni Television original series Second Jen.
Amanda Joy | |
|---|---|
Joy in 2014 | |
| Education | Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts |
| Alma mater | Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) |
| Occupations | Actress, comedian, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Notable work | Mo on Second Jen, Kanako in Devil's Mile |
Early life and education
Joy studied vocal music at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts, before pursuing Contemporary Studies at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University).[1] Joy's mother is Filipina,[2][3] and her father is of Chinese descent.[4] Joy starred in her first short film as a child in 2001, under the name Amanda Joy Lim.[5]
While originally training for a career in musical theatre (and later film), a high school teacher encouraged her to pursue screenwriting.[1]
Career
Joy achieved recognition in 2016 when her sitcom, Second Jen, premiered on City.[2] Joy has professed her desire to combat the invisibility and misrepresentation of Filipinos in western media.[2] She has also been outspoken about the need for more diversity on TV, telling interviewers that she would "like to stop seeing [diversity] as an intentional choice," adding that she wants "kids growing up now to see people who look like them onscreen."[6]
She was featured by FLARE as one of five Canadian "rabble rousers," telling the magazine she believes "many [women of colour] are leaders despite forces that see [them] as unworthy, as threats, as less than—as other."[7]
Joy writes for the online satirical news site, The Beaverton, covering topics including: Hollywood whitewashing,[8] online dating,[9] and sexism in journalism.[10]
Awards
In 2017, Joy was nominated for a Writers Guild of Canada Award for Second Jen's pilot script "Couch Surfing."[11] In 2019, she was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for the second season of Second Jen,[12] and for Best Comedy Script at the Writers Guild of Canada Awards for the Second Jen episode "Like a Girl."[13] In 2022 she won a Writers Guild of Canada award for Amelia Parker/The Parker Andersons.[14] Joy has also received a shared Canadian Screen Award nomination for Son of a Critch.[15]
Influences
Joy credits Radio Free Vestibule as her earliest comic influence.[16]
Personal life
Joy's hobbies include weight-lifting,[6] and playing video games.[17] She is a supporter of the Toronto Blue Jays.[18][19]