Jo Vannicola

Jo Vannicola began their professional career at the age of eight on Sesame Street and in vocal studios, and made their television debut in their hometown of Montreal. They ended up in Toronto to study and pursue their career, and by the age of 17 had written their first play. Acting credits include two short films they  co-produced and wrote: Trashed, and Pink Elephant. They can be seen in the feature film, Love and Human Remains, written by Brad Fraser and directed by Denys Arcand, which earned Vannicola a Genie nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Jo reunited with Arcand for his film, Stardom, and won an Emmy for their work in Maggie’s Secret directed by Al Waxman. Jo was also nominated for a Gemini award for best actress in a continuing role for the CBC series 9B, as well as an ACTRA award nomination for best  voice/animation as Toot in the animated series Toot and Puddle. Jo was also nominated for a CSA award for a guest starring role in Diggstown, 2023 and currently is nominated for an ACTRA award 2026, Best Performance award for a nonbinary/trans actor.

​Among their 77 credits in film and television is their most recent role as Charlie in Pink Elephant (2026). Jo can also be seen in The Expanse, Diggstown, Stories From my Gay Grandparents, Being Erica, CBCs Street Legal the reboot, and as multiple characters spanning five seasons of Slasher on Netflix, Hulu, and other platforms.  Jo was also in  the feature film, Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich, which premiered at TIFF: Sea Change, shot in Nova Scotia and directed by Chris Grismer for Lifetime TV.  They also worked on Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, Rookie Blue, Degrassi, Derby, Ultimate Betrayal, PSI Factor, and the hit series, Being Erica, as Doctor Naadiah by Jana Sinyor and Aaron Martin, also streaming on Netflix.

Jo also enjoys their work in numerous cartoons including My Dad The Rock Star, Crash Canyon, Superwhy, Maurice Sendaks Seven Little Monsters, Timothy Goes to School, and Max and Ruby.