Christopher De Paola

Christopher De Paola is an Emmy Award nominated actor and a playwright. Born and raised in South Florida, Chris began his acting career as a child going to rehearsals with his father at the Hollywood Playhouse, a community theatre. Always planning to attend college to study architecture, Chris was convinced by a friend to audition for a one-act play his junior year of high school. That one-act play went on to win district, then state competition where Chris was awarded the Best Actor Award. The same one-act was invited to perform at international drama competitions at Ball State University. Needless to say, dreams of architecture were left behind. Needing financial assistance to leave Florida and attend college, Chris auditioned for multiple university/college talent scouts while performing at Ball State. He was recruited by Otterbein College, and on scholarship, earned his BFA in Acting. He moved to NYC immediately following.

During his time in NYC, Chris also began focusing on writing. He then attended the MFA Playwriting program at Ohio University on fellowship. After completion, Chris moved to Chicago to continue his acting and playwriting careers. While in Chicago, Chris was cast on the television series Green Screen Adventures (2007). He was also a head writer on the show for a year. His 2007 Emmy Award nomination came for his role as series regular & host of the show.

Christopher is also an alumnus of the Resident Playwright Program at Chicago Dramatists. His play 'The Imagine Man' was presented in the Victory Gardens festival 'Ignition: Emerging Playwrights of Color'. His two plays 'Morning Traffic' and 'Dream Water' were commissioned and published by Pearson Education/Scott Foresman. His plays 'Streets Come Knocking' and 'Recovered' were presented in Chicago Dramatists' 2006 & 2007 Many Voices Project. Productions include: 'Dirty' (New Theatre, FL); 'What I Knew Then' (NYC); 'The Dialogue Between Men & Women' (NYC).