Kinga Phillips 

Career: Actress and Journalist 

Major: Journalism and Broadcasting 

Introduction

Kinga was born into a Warsaw, Poland, family of explorers and adventurers. She graduated from Oklahoma State University's College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in Journalism and Broadcasting in 2000 before beginning her acting career. 

Never one to sit still, Kinga has tested herself for the past 19 years by traveling the globe: scuba diving, free diving, spearfishing, surfing, jumping out of airplanes, spelunking and swimming with sharks as a writer, producer and on-camera journalist for networks such as CBS, NBC, ABC, USA, AMC, Travel Channel, Fox Sports, Universal Sports, Food Network, Current TV, Syfy, EPIX and National Geographic.

Kinga was one of the original on-air journalists to launch Al Gore’s Emmy Award-winning Current TV, where she covered everything from travel, car culture and entertainment to current issues and hard-hitting vanguard journalism stories that put her in the line of fire…sometimes literally. She has done several projects for Travel Channel including The Wild Side with Kinga Philipps, which had her kite surfing, bungee jumping, free diving and mountain biking across the U.S.; the network's yearly special The Trip, where Travel Channel talent team up to show off exciting destinations; Travel Hacks, an animated multi-part series written and hosted by Kinga and based on her more offbeat and comical adventure travel moments and the award-winning THE REAL, a comprehensive locals perspective of exotic destinations...repeatedly nominated and winning Tellys, Webbys and the Cynopsis Model D, among others.

As a writer, she has two columns for Inside Hook: Off the Beaten Path, a modern nomad's guide to a world less traveled that explores some of the last bastions of wilderness this planet has to offer; and the acclaimed Real Life Laura Croft series that highlights inspiring and accomplished women.

Kinga is a board member of the nonprofit environmental group Shark Allies, dedicated to changing the image of sharks and conserving our oceans.

Currently, Kinga is on the road working on the six-episode documentary series Enslaved. As a journalist and scuba diver she is part of the team diving shipwrecks all over the world to tell the profound stories of the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved will premiere on EPIX in June. The series is hosted by Samuel L. Jackson.