MADEXXXX
Up Close &
Personal WITH
J AY E L L I S
MADE BY
ASHLEY WHITE
W
hether you’re
#TeamLawrence or
#TeamIssa, you can’t deny
that HBO’s Insecure speaks
to real-life situations in a
way that’s both entertaining
yet thought-provoking on
television. Great storytelling
inspired Jay Ellis to pursue a
career in acting and it’s no
coincidence that he landed
on a show known for its
ability to accurately capture
everyday experiences. As
with any career, he’s dealt
with insecurities, rejection
and making it through tough
moments. In this exclusive
MADE interview, Jay Ellis
talks his journey as an actor,
dealing with rejection in his
career and why Insecure hits
home for so many people.
Growing up, Jay Ellis had big
dreams. “I grew up like any
kid—I wanted to be a Jedi, a
cop, fireman and then I got
a little bit older and for sure
thought I was going to go to
so we watched a lot of drama
with Sidney Poitier and we
watched John Wayne—she
loved westerns. So, it just
depended on who was home
and that determined what I
watched that day and I loved
it. I realized that I wanted to do
some version of that.”
While he knew at a young age
he wanted to act, Ellis attended
Concordia University in Oregon
on a basketball scholarship
while majoring in finance and
international business. “I think
I just wanted to make my
parents proud,” Ellis said of his
finance degree in his interview
with LA Weekly. “I would be in
the locker room and the guys
are talking about, ‘Man, are we
gonna beat Portland State?’ and
in my head I’m thinking, ‘Yeah,
but do you guys want to come
to my play? I’m doing Pippin.’
I was too much of a coward to
actually say that. I was actually
always kind of jealous of the
theater kids.”
After college, he moved to
the NBA,” explains Ellis. “I
remember being a kid and
writing myself a $100 million
check. I remember writing
myself a contract to play for
the SuperSonics and that dream
crashed and burned really fast
because the SuperSonics don’t
even exist anymore and I didn’t
get a $100 million contract. So
that didn’t work out.”
Even though those childhood
dreams didn’t quite work
out, Ellis found a love for
storytelling that he couldn’t
shake. “I remember storytelling
was always this thing that was
interesting to me. As a family,
we moved around a lot because
my Dad was in the service so
we watched a lot of TV and we
watched a lot of movies. My
dad was a really big comedy
guy so we always watched a
lot of standup and our movies
were always comedic movies.
From Eddie Murphy to John
Candy, Bill Murray, Steve
Martin and Richard Pryor. My
mom was always into drama
made-magazine.com |
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