Lisa Ray
| Lisa Ray | |
|---|---|
 Ray being interviewed on The Hour |
|
| Born | Lisa Ray April 4, 1972 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Actress, Model |
| Years active | 2001 – present |
| Website | |
| http://lisaraniray.com/ | |
Lisa Ray, born 4 April 1972,[1] is a Canadian actress and former model.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Lisa Ray was born in Toronto to a Bengali Indian father and a Polish mother and grew up in the suburb of Etobicoke.[2] She excelled academically, doing five years of high school in four, while attending three different high schools: Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, Richview Collegiate Institute and Silverthorn Collegiate Institute.[3]
She spoke Polish to her maternal grandmother and watched movies of Federico Fellini and Satyajit Ray with her cinephile dad.[2] Ray was spotted by an agent in a crowd during a family vacation in India when she was 16, when she began modelling.
[edit] Career
Lisa Ray came to public attention when she appeared in an advertisement for Bombay Dyeing wearing a high-cut black swimsuit,[4] opposite Karan Kapoor.[5] Subsequently, she returned to Canada to attend university to study journalism, but a car injury which injured her mother derailed those plans. Instead, she returned to India where she appeared on the cover of Glad Rags wearing a red Baywatch-style swimsuit. The sensation that caused led to more magazine covers, spokesperson deals and a job as host of her own show-business program. A Times of India poll named her the "ninth most beautiful woman of the millennium," the only model in the top ten.[3] She also anchored a TV show Star Biz on Star Movies with actor/model Kelly Dorji.
She made her cinematic debut in 1994 in the Tamil film Nethaji opposite actor Sarath Kumar where she appeared in a brief role. Later she acted in a Telugu film Takkari Donga opposite Mahesh Babu. After turning down a number of roles,[6] she made her Bollywood debut with the film Kasoor in 2001 opposite Aftab Shivdasani[5] where her voice was dubbed by Divya Dutta as she could not speak Hindi.[7] Her work in that film caught the eye of Deepa Mehta who cast Ray in the romantic Indian-Canadian romp, Bollywood/Hollywood in 2002.[2] In 2005, she worked again with Mehta in the Oscar-nominated film, Water where she spoke her lines in Hindi although her voice was dubbed in the final cut.[7] Since then she has worked in productions from Canada, Europe and the United States.
Past roles include a farm girl in All Hat, a school teacher in A Stone's Throw a housewife in 1950s apartheid South Africa in The World Unseen and a Christian-Arab lesbian in the humorously titled I Can't Think Straight directed by Shamim Sarif.
In 2007, Ray completed filming for Kill Kill Faster Faster, which is a contemporary film noir inspired by the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by Joel Rose. She appeared in a few uninhibited sex scenes, "something unheard of for an artist from India."[8]
She guest starred in USA Network series Psych, which was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, which aired on November 30, 2009.
She appeared in the famous song "Afreen Afreen" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in 1996.
Lisa Ray has been featured in the Canadian edition of Hello magazine as one of the '50 Most Beautiful People' of the country. She gave a candid interview on her personal cancer trauma and surviving it, appearing on the cover of the 2010 anniversary issue of the Indian men's luxury magazine The Man.
Ray has appeared in a guest role of a reporter, Dominique Ball, in the recent Woody Harrelson movie Defendor.
Ray was seen in UniGlobe Entertainment's cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute scheduled for release in 2010.[9] The documentary is being made by Namrata Singh Gujral and will also feature cancer survivors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith as well as William Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin and Priya Dutt, whose lives have been touched by cancer. The feature is narrated by Kelly McGillis. It will also star Bárbara Mori, Deepak Chopra and Morgan Brittany.
On November 15, 2011, Ray announced that she had been named to host season two of Top Chef Canada.[10]
[edit] Personal life
She was diagnosed with multiple myeloma on 23 June 2009, a cancer of the white blood cells known as plasma cells, which produce antibodies. It is a rare disease.[7][11] In April 2010, she announced she was cancer-free following a stem cell transplant.[12] She was formerly in relationships with fashion photographer Paolo Zambaldi[13] and Canadian businessman W. Brett Wilson.[14] In February 2012 she announced her engagement to management consultant Jason Dehni.[15]
[edit] Awards
- Voted Star of the Future at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival,[16]
- Top Ten most Beautiful Indian Woman of the Millenium by the Times of India
- Won the Best Actress in a Canadian film for Water by the Vancouver Critics Circle[17]
- Won 'Voice Achievers Award for 2009' for outstanding contribution in fields of film, trade, literature and sports[18]
[edit] Filmography
All are English language films unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Hanste Khelte | Rekha | Hindi language film Special appearance in song |
| 1996 | Nethaji | Priya | Tamil language film |
| 2001 | Kasoor | Simran Bhargav | Hindi language film |
| 2002 | Takkari Donga | Bhuvana | Telugu language film |
| 2002 | Bollywood/Hollywood | Sue (Sunita) Singh | English/Punjabi/Spanish language film |
| 2004 | Ball & Chain | Saima | |
| 2004 | Yuvaraja | Lovely | Kannada language film |
| 2005 | The Standard | Bollywood Actress | TV Series |
| 2005 | Water | Kalyani | |
| 2005 | Seeking Fear | Nina Atwal | |
| 2006 | The Flowerman | Louise | |
| 2006 | Quarter Life Crisis | Angel | |
| 2006 | A Stone's Throw | Lia | |
| 2007 | I Can't Think Straight | Tala | |
| 2007 | Blood Ties | Elena | TV Series, one episode |
| 2007 | The World Unseen | Miriam | |
| 2007 | All Hat | Etta Parr | |
| 2008 | Kill Kill Faster Faster | Fleur | |
| 2008 | Toronto Stories | Beth | |
| 2008 | The Summit | Rebecca Downy | TV Mini-Series |
| 2009 | Somnolence | Jeany Rodriguez | |
| 2009 | Defendor | Dominique Ball | |
| 2009 | Cooking with Stella | Maya Chopra | |
| 2009 | Let the Game Begin | Eva | |
| 2009 | Psych | Sita | TV Series, Season 4 Episode 6 "Bollywood Homicide" |
| 2010 | Trader Games | Sarah | |
| 2010 | 1 a Minute | Star | |
| 2011 | Murdoch Mysteries | TBD | TV series, one episode[19] |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Lisa Ray Profile". worldfilm.about.com. http://worldfilm.about.com/cs/bollyactrss/p/lisaray.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ a b c Rachel Giese (October 2007). "The thoroughly Canadian charm of Lisa Ray". Chatelaine.com. http://en.chatelaine.com/english/life/article.jsp?content=20070723_142659_4976.
- ^ a b Liam Lacey (2002-09-12). "Just a pinch of spice". The Globe & Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/special/filmfestival/2002/news/20020912ray.html. Retrieved 2008-11-18.[dead link]
- ^ Sujata Assomull (1998-11-14). "My Den -- Lisa Ray". Indian Express Newspapers. http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19981124/32850674.html. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ a b Anand Sankar (2005-07-30). "A ray of hope for her". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/07/30/stories/2005073002440300.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ Liz Braun (2008-11-07). "Lisa Ray shines in the spotlight". Toronto Sun. http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/R/Ray_Lisa/2008/11/07/7334866-sun.html. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ a b c P. Karthik (2008-02-20). "I’m loving it: Lisa Ray". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_Buzz/Im_loving_it_Lisa_Ray/articleshow/2795774.cms. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ "Lisa Ray Dares To Bare Like Never Before". http://www.steami.net/girls/lisa-ray-dares-to-bare-like-never-before/. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ "Mcg - Indian Star Rallies Celebrity Support For Cancer Movie". contactmusic.com. 8 October 2009. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/indian-star-rallies-celebrity-support-for-cancer-movie_1118440.
- ^ "Television: Top Chef Canada's New Host". Shaw Media Inc. 2011-11-15. http://www.globaltoronto.com/Pages/MorningSegment.aspx?id=6442522796. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
- ^ Denise Balkissoon (August 2006). "24 Hours with Lisa Ray". Toronto Life. http://www.torontolife.com/features/24-hours-with-lisa-ray/.
- ^ Jill Sarjent (2010-04-22). "Actress Lisa Ray says she's cancer free". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/799144--actress-lisa-ray-says-she-s-cancer-free. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ Greg Quill (2009-09-15). "Actress has nothing to hide - thestar.com". www.thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/article/695707. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
- ^ Renuka Vyavahare (12 April 2011). "I am not getting married: Lisa Ray". Times of India. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-12/news-interviews/29409313_1_lisa-ray-brett-wilson-actress. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
- ^ IANS (1 February 2012). "Actress Lisa Ray got engaged to banker Jason Dehni". Ibnlive. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/lisa-ray-engaged-to-consultant-jason-dehni/226184-8-66.html. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
- ^ Constance Droganes (2007-09-10). "Canadian actress Lisa Ray goes a little bit country in 'All Hat'". CTV News. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story//20070910/ENT_tiff_LISARAY_080910/20070912?s_name=tiff2007. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ imdb.com, Glow magazine, December 2007
- ^ "Seven Indo-Canadian including Lisa Ray honoured". The Economic Times (India). 29 Nov 2009. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Seven-Indo-Canadian-including-Lisa-Ray-honoured/articleshow/5281180.cms.
- ^ "Murdoch Mysteries Revealed". tvguide.ca. http://tvguide.ca/TVNews/articles/100728_murdoch_mysteries_spoilers_GD.htm. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
