Azie Dungey facts for kids
Azie Mira Dungey is an American actress, producer, and writer. She is well-known for her web series Ask a Slave (2013). She has also written for popular TV shows like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Girls5eva, and Harlem.
Early Life and Education
Azie Mira Dungey grew up in the area around Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. People who live there often call it "the DMV". She also spent some time in Philadelphia with her grandparents when she was younger.
Azie has a rich family history. She is part African American and part Native American. Her family comes from the Pamunkey and Mattaponi tribes in Virginia. She is very involved in the Native American community.
She studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. From a young age, she looked up to Tina Fey and loved watching Saturday Night Live.
Career
Before working in TV, Azie performed in many plays in Washington, D.C.
She once worked at Mount Vernon, which was George Washington's home. There, she played the role of an enslaved lady's maid. Her job was to answer questions from visitors about slavery while staying in character. She worked there for almost two years, from 2010 to 2012.
In 2013, Dungey moved to Los Angeles. She then wrote and starred in a funny web series called Ask a Slave. In the series, she played Lizzie Mae, an enslaved person. The show shared real stories from her time at Mount Vernon. It was released on YouTube and quickly became very popular. After the series was a hit, Salon magazine even suggested her as someone Saturday Night Live could hire.
Tina Fey invited Azie to write for the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Later, she also wrote for Girls5eva. Both shows were produced by Tina Fey. Azie also helped write and produce the TV drama series Sweetbitter on Starz. This show was based on a popular book.
Starting in 2019, Dungey wrote and hosted Say It Loud, an educational series for PBS Digital. Also in 2019, she was an executive producer and writer for Twenties, a sitcom on BET and Showtime. She also wrote for Tracy Oliver's comedy series Harlem (2021), and her writing was highly praised.
In 2023, there was a long writers' strike in the U.S. Azie supported the strike for nearly four months. After the strike, she traveled to Australia. There, she met and worked with some of the Indigenous Australian people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She was excited to meet Mark Coles Smith, an actor from the show Mystery Road. Azie was inspired to share stories of the Aboriginal people from that area, like the story of the Bunuba warrior Jandamarra.
Personal Life
Dungey has lived on the Standing Rock Reservation in Sioux Country, which is in North and South Dakota.
