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Lisa Rani Ray, born 4 April 1972, is a Canadian actress, model, host, philanthropist and social activist.
Lisa Ray was born in Toronto to a Hindu Bengali Indian father and a Polish mother and grew up in the suburb of Etobicoke. 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.
She spoke Polish to her maternal grandmother and watched movies of Federico Fellini and Satyajit Ray with her cinephile dad. Ray was spotted by an agent in a crowd during a family vacation in India when she was 16, when she began modelling.
Lisa Ray came to public attention when she appeared in an advertisement for Bombay Dyeing wearing a high-cut black swimsuit, opposite Karan Kapoor. Subsequently, she returned to Canada to attend university to study journalism, but a car accident that 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 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. She also anchored the TV show Star Biz on Star Movies, with actor/model Kelly Dorji.
Ray made her cinematic debut in 1994 in the Tamil film Nethaji, opposite actor Sarath Kumar, in which she appeared in a brief role. Later, she acted in the Telugu film Takkari Donga, opposite Mahesh Babu.
In 1996, Ray appeared in the famous song "Afreen Afreen," by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and appeared in the song "Har Taraf Tera Jalwa," by Daler Mehndi, in 1998.
Ray became the enduring brand ambassador for Rado Watches in India.
After turning down a number of roles, Ray made her Indian Film Industry debut in 2001 with the film Kasoor, opposite Aftab Shivdasani, in which her voice was dubbed by Divya Dutta, because she could not speak Hindi. Interestingly, actress Divya Dutta also starred in the same film, but because she had already given her voice to Lisa Ray, Dutta's voice was dubbed by another artist—just to make her own character believable. Her work in that film caught the eye of Deepa Mehta, who cast Ray in the romantic Indian-Canadian romp Bollywood/Hollywood, in 2002.
Realizing that acting was something that she wanted to pursue more seriously, Ray moved to London to concentrate on a career in the performing arts. While there, Ray studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, The London Centre for Theatre Studies, The Desmond Jones school of Physical Theatre, and BADA. She graduated from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), in 2004, with a post-graduate degree in acting.
While studying, Ray made a conscious effort to not accept any film offers until she had graduated. However, while still at ALRA, she received another call from Deepa Mehta, who made her an offer she simply could not refuse—the lead role of Kalyani in Mehta's highly controversial and much-anticipated feature Water.
In 2005, Ray worked again with Mehta, in the Oscar-nominated film Water, in which she spoke her lines in Hindi, although her voice was dubbed in the final cut. Since then, Ray 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 an Arab lesbian in the humorously titled I Can't Think Straight, directed by Shamim Sarif. "I think every film that I’ve done so far has been a turning point because I experimented with each one and grew professionally. The movies I chose, dealt with a lot of thought-provoking subjects."
After graduation, Ray based herself out of Milan, Paris, and New York from 2004–2008, returning to Toronto when her beloved mother passed away in late 2008.
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."
In 2009, Ray was named 'Trailblazer' at the Reelworld Film Festival and was featured as one of the '50 Most Beautiful People' of the country in the Canadian edition of Hello magazine, May 2009 issue.
Ray guest-starred in the USA Network series Psych, directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, which aired on 30 November 2009. She also appeared in a guest role of a reporter, Dominique Ball, in the recent Woody Harrelson movie Defendor.
Ray attended the Toronto International Film Festival in support of her work in Cooking with Stella. At this event, Ray revealed that she had incurable cancer, and she shared the diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma with the media and the public. At the same time, Ray started an acclaimed blog, The Yellow Diaries, chronicling her cancer experience.
"I believe it can be cured," Ray wrote on her blog. "That's the Dirty Realist in me... I'm getting better. My prognosis, given my 'junior' status and stage of disease, is very good. I'm aiming for full remission."
Ray went on to help raise funds for the establishment of the first research chair for Multiple Myeloma at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Also, she took part in Plan Canada’s Because I Am A Girl campaign, a global movement that fights for the rights of girls around the world who face discrimination because of their gender and age.
On Christmas in 2009, Ray received a stem cell transplant to treat her rare cancer.
In April 2010, Ray announced that she was cancer-free, after a stem cell transplant. Ray 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 was seen in UniGlobe Entertainment's cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute, scheduled for release in 2010.The documentary was made by Namrata Singh Gujral and featured 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 was narrated by Kelly McGillis. It also starred Bárbara Mori, Deepak Chopra, and Morgan Brittany.
On 16 November 2010, TLC India announced that it would film a new 5-part series, Oh My Gold (OMG), with Lisa Ray. It premiered in 2011. The series Oh My Gold was set against the cultural-yet-contemporary backdrop of India. Uncovering the beauty of various cities, Ray played both a host and a travel guide.
Ray has since become an outspoken advocate for stem cell technology, recording a PSA for the McEwan Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Also, she completed a national media tour in Canada for Multiple Myeloma called Making Myeloma Matter, in early 2011, to raise public awareness.
In 2011, Ray acted in the acclaimed stage play Taj, opposite Kabir Bedi in Luminato. Also, Ray was at the Taj Mahal and the Estee Lauder Breast Cancer event to spread awareness about breast cancer.
On 5 July 2010, Ray was honored to be a host of the informal lunch for Queen Elizabeth's visit to Toronto. Ray also hosted the 2011 International Indian Film Academy IIFA Rocks fashion and music event and was a presenter at the IIFA Awards and the 2011 Giller Prize.
A strong advocate of stem cell research and a long-time yoga practitioner, Ray partnered with co-owners Paris and Annette, in 2011, to open Moksha Yoga Brampton.
On 15 November 2011, Ray announced that she had been named to host season two of Top Chef Canada, which is Food Network Canada's top-rated series. The show premiered in March 2012.
Ray had one TV series Endgame and one film Patch Town released in 2011. Also, Ray guest-starred in the Canadian-television drama series Murdoch Mysteries, which aired on 12 April 2011.
On 18 May 2012, Craig Goodwill announced that Lisa Ray would star in his Boy Toy, a fantasy drama that is based on Goodwill’s short film Patch Town. Boy Toy begins shooting in Toronto in November 2012.
In September 2012, Ray was named ambassador for the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign in Canada. Pantene Beautiful Lengths is a charity campaign that asks people to grow and donate their hair to make real-hair wigs for women battling cancer.
Lisa Ray was born in Toronto to a Hindu Bengali Indian father and a Polish mother and grew up in the suburb of Etobicoke. 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.
She spoke Polish to her maternal grandmother and watched movies of Federico Fellini and Satyajit Ray with her cinephile dad. Ray was spotted by an agent in a crowd during a family vacation in India when she was 16, when she began modelling.
Lisa Ray came to public attention when she appeared in an advertisement for Bombay Dyeing wearing a high-cut black swimsuit, opposite Karan Kapoor. Subsequently, she returned to Canada to attend university to study journalism, but a car accident that 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 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. She also anchored the TV show Star Biz on Star Movies, with actor/model Kelly Dorji.
Ray made her cinematic debut in 1994 in the Tamil film Nethaji, opposite actor Sarath Kumar, in which she appeared in a brief role. Later, she acted in the Telugu film Takkari Donga, opposite Mahesh Babu.
In 1996, Ray appeared in the famous song "Afreen Afreen," by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and appeared in the song "Har Taraf Tera Jalwa," by Daler Mehndi, in 1998.
Ray became the enduring brand ambassador for Rado Watches in India.
After turning down a number of roles, Ray made her Indian Film Industry debut in 2001 with the film Kasoor, opposite Aftab Shivdasani, in which her voice was dubbed by Divya Dutta, because she could not speak Hindi. Interestingly, actress Divya Dutta also starred in the same film, but because she had already given her voice to Lisa Ray, Dutta's voice was dubbed by another artist—just to make her own character believable. Her work in that film caught the eye of Deepa Mehta, who cast Ray in the romantic Indian-Canadian romp Bollywood/Hollywood, in 2002.
Realizing that acting was something that she wanted to pursue more seriously, Ray moved to London to concentrate on a career in the performing arts. While there, Ray studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, The London Centre for Theatre Studies, The Desmond Jones school of Physical Theatre, and BADA. She graduated from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), in 2004, with a post-graduate degree in acting.
While studying, Ray made a conscious effort to not accept any film offers until she had graduated. However, while still at ALRA, she received another call from Deepa Mehta, who made her an offer she simply could not refuse—the lead role of Kalyani in Mehta's highly controversial and much-anticipated feature Water.
In 2005, Ray worked again with Mehta, in the Oscar-nominated film Water, in which she spoke her lines in Hindi, although her voice was dubbed in the final cut. Since then, Ray 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 an Arab lesbian in the humorously titled I Can't Think Straight, directed by Shamim Sarif. "I think every film that I’ve done so far has been a turning point because I experimented with each one and grew professionally. The movies I chose, dealt with a lot of thought-provoking subjects."
After graduation, Ray based herself out of Milan, Paris, and New York from 2004–2008, returning to Toronto when her beloved mother passed away in late 2008.
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."
In 2009, Ray was named 'Trailblazer' at the Reelworld Film Festival and was featured as one of the '50 Most Beautiful People' of the country in the Canadian edition of Hello magazine, May 2009 issue.
Ray guest-starred in the USA Network series Psych, directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, which aired on 30 November 2009. She also appeared in a guest role of a reporter, Dominique Ball, in the recent Woody Harrelson movie Defendor.
Ray attended the Toronto International Film Festival in support of her work in Cooking with Stella. At this event, Ray revealed that she had incurable cancer, and she shared the diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma with the media and the public. At the same time, Ray started an acclaimed blog, The Yellow Diaries, chronicling her cancer experience.
"I believe it can be cured," Ray wrote on her blog. "That's the Dirty Realist in me... I'm getting better. My prognosis, given my 'junior' status and stage of disease, is very good. I'm aiming for full remission."
Ray went on to help raise funds for the establishment of the first research chair for Multiple Myeloma at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Also, she took part in Plan Canada’s Because I Am A Girl campaign, a global movement that fights for the rights of girls around the world who face discrimination because of their gender and age.
On Christmas in 2009, Ray received a stem cell transplant to treat her rare cancer.
In April 2010, Ray announced that she was cancer-free, after a stem cell transplant. Ray 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 was seen in UniGlobe Entertainment's cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute, scheduled for release in 2010.The documentary was made by Namrata Singh Gujral and featured 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 was narrated by Kelly McGillis. It also starred Bárbara Mori, Deepak Chopra, and Morgan Brittany.
On 16 November 2010, TLC India announced that it would film a new 5-part series, Oh My Gold (OMG), with Lisa Ray. It premiered in 2011. The series Oh My Gold was set against the cultural-yet-contemporary backdrop of India. Uncovering the beauty of various cities, Ray played both a host and a travel guide.
Ray has since become an outspoken advocate for stem cell technology, recording a PSA for the McEwan Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Also, she completed a national media tour in Canada for Multiple Myeloma called Making Myeloma Matter, in early 2011, to raise public awareness.
In 2011, Ray acted in the acclaimed stage play Taj, opposite Kabir Bedi in Luminato. Also, Ray was at the Taj Mahal and the Estee Lauder Breast Cancer event to spread awareness about breast cancer.
On 5 July 2010, Ray was honored to be a host of the informal lunch for Queen Elizabeth's visit to Toronto. Ray also hosted the 2011 International Indian Film Academy IIFA Rocks fashion and music event and was a presenter at the IIFA Awards and the 2011 Giller Prize.
A strong advocate of stem cell research and a long-time yoga practitioner, Ray partnered with co-owners Paris and Annette, in 2011, to open Moksha Yoga Brampton.
On 15 November 2011, Ray announced that she had been named to host season two of Top Chef Canada, which is Food Network Canada's top-rated series. The show premiered in March 2012.
Ray had one TV series Endgame and one film Patch Town released in 2011. Also, Ray guest-starred in the Canadian-television drama series Murdoch Mysteries, which aired on 12 April 2011.
On 18 May 2012, Craig Goodwill announced that Lisa Ray would star in his Boy Toy, a fantasy drama that is based on Goodwill’s short film Patch Town. Boy Toy begins shooting in Toronto in November 2012.
In September 2012, Ray was named ambassador for the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign in Canada. Pantene Beautiful Lengths is a charity campaign that asks people to grow and donate their hair to make real-hair wigs for women battling cancer.
