Phylicia Pearl Mpasi

Phylicia Pearl Mpasi is an American actress and writer born on November 16 in Silver Spring, Maryland. The daughter of immigrants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she identifies as Black and Congolese-American. Mpasi was raised Catholic and sang in her church choir during her childhood. She completed her secondary education at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic High School in Olney, Maryland, before earning an undergraduate degree in theater from Elon University. During her time at Elon, the musical version of The Color Purple was part of the theater program's curriculum.

Mpasi launched her professional career in theater, taking on various roles in the Broadway and touring productions of The Lion King. Her Broadway tenure with the production spanned from 1997 to 2017. During the pandemic, she expanded her creative output by producing YouTube videos and subsequently transitioned into television writing, contributing to the series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and the HBO scripted podcast We Stay Looking, which starred Terri J. Vaughn.

In 2021, Mpasi auditioned for the role of adult Celie in the film adaptation of the musical The Color Purple. That role was ultimately cast with Fantasia Barrino, after which Mpasi pursued and was awarded the role of young Celie, portrayed as Celie Harris-Johnson in the 2023 film. Her performance earned her the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture. The ensemble cast received a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination, and the film also received a Critics' Choice Movie Awards nomination. Additionally, Mpasi performed the original song "Keep It Movin'" alongside Halle Bailey, a collaboration that won the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Original Song.