April 06, 2023

By Keith L. Underwood

 

Most television viewing and movie going audiences in the United States will know Jimmy Jean-Louis for his portrayals of Dr. Gregory Ruval on the TV series “Claws,” The Haitian in the sci-fi television show “Heroes,” and as Dr. Jonathan Tunde in the comedy film “Phat Girlz.”

However, the Port-au-Prince, Haiti-born Jean-Louis is also an international Pan African, award-winning actor, writer, and producer. He travels to places like London, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria to develop global stories that bring attention to the larger African diaspora. These are places Jean-Louis said, “I care for and understand.”

“It is great to see the world catching up to some of the work I’m doing in those places,” continued Jean-Louis. “It has been a search of self and identity.”

Jean-Louis’ reflects on growing up in Petion-Ville, a small suburb of Port-au-Prince as “rough.”

 

“I see it as rough now in my mind, but as a kid growing up, even under those circumstances, it was just fun,” said Jean-Louis.

He says they did not have running water at home, so he would “get up early in the morning, take a bucket” and travel half-a-mile to get water.

“Whether it was to wash myself or to drink, that just became a normal thing,” emphasized Jean-Louis.

Jean-Louis said that some of the things he did for fun growing up was “playing soccer with a ball made from plastic bags” and “socks filled with paper.”

“The simple things I’m realizing were so nice,” said Jean-Louis. “Going into mango trees and getting mangos for free… here we are eating organic food all the time, and fast forward, organic food here in America has become such a luxury.”

Conversely, when his family moved to Paris it was not a luxury. “It was a necessity,” said Jean-Louis. “It was to seek a better life.” His mother “who hustled” was the “first one to go.”

Jean-Louis said, “She left everyone behind, doing every kind of dirty job in France.” He says, she was slowly able to bring the entire family over, one at a time with his father being the last one remaining.

“It took us about seven-years to reunite in Paris,” said Jean-Louis.

Racism in Europe was very real for Jean-Louis in Paris. He exclaimed, “If you think racism is bad here, wait to you get to some of those European countries!” Jean-Louis says, in school he was called “a monkey” and “given a banana.”

“The police would check your papers to make sure you were allowed to be in the country, no reason, but to check just because you’re Black,” said Jean-Louis.

When Jean-Louis grew into a young man, he was confused about what he wanted to do with his life. “I was just hustling, going to nightclubs, just trying to understand what the heck is going on in this life,” said Jean-Louis. “I had nothing going on.”

“But, if you go to the right club in Paris, you meet the right people,” continued Jean Louis. “You have in one corner of the club people like Prince, and on another side, George Michael, very influential people and there is a level of inspiration that kicks in.”

It ignited an interest in Jean-Louis for the arts. “Wait a minute, what’s going on here,” said Jean-Louis. “Maybe this is a way for me to have a little bit of money coming in and maybe even obtain a certain level of fame.”

This led Jean-Louis to an art school in Paris, where Jean-Louis says he “hustled his way in without having to pay.”

Jean Louis says that he met one of the teachers at a very famous nightclub in Paris called, Les Bains Douches. Jean-Louis describes it as “the Studio 54 of Paris.”

“That girl was a teacher at that place (the art school), and I was curious about it, so I went to visit her there, and by going there I wondered if I could potentially enroll myself,” said Jean-Louis.

Jean-Louis enrolled in the school with the promise his parents would take care of the tuition. “I came up with a bunch of BS,” said Jean-Louis. “No worries, my parents will pay at the end of the week, the end of the month, the next month and the next month and that’s how I sort of went there.”

Jean-Louis says the desire was there and he was hungry to learn and attending as many classes as he could every day.

“These schools are very expensive, as you must imagine, and there I did everything from dancing, theatre, acting, music… everything,” said Jean-Louis. “I wanted to take advantage of everything because I knew in short time, they were going to kick me out of the school.”

Jean-Louis’ short-lived time at the arts school, now gave him some “background experience” and “some credibility.”

“I worked as a dancer in France and then Spain, in Barcelona,” said Jean-Louis. “From dancing, I took it to the next level, modeling and from modeling, I started to travel around the world.

“From there I started doing commercials, and little bit parts in movies and TV,’ continued Jean-Louis. “Then I decided to come to the states, to Hollywood.”

When Jean-Louis first arrived in Hollywood, it wasn’t easy. “For the first two years, the first three years, to be honest, were hard, and just as I was about to head to my next destination that’s when I got a gig,” said Louis. “Maybe I have a chance, maybe there are some possibilities.”

Jean-Louis cites his breakout role in “Phat Girlz” as the one that put him in the minds of Black Americans. “I think it was the first project that I did that opened me up to the Black audience here (the U.S.),” said Louis.

Playing the role of Nigerian doctor Jonathan Tunde would also open some doors for him in Nigeria.

“This was a time when we think about Nigeria, we think about corruption,” said Jean-Louis. “Now here comes an elegant doctor who does all the right things in a major Hollywood movie.”

Jean-Louis continued, “The entire country (Nigeria) embraced the movie and the character.”

Jean-Louis even hinted that there might be a “Phat Girlz 2” in the works.

National fame came for Jean-Louis with the superhero themed television series, Heroes. He had this to say about the show, “Heroes was probably the biggest one when it comes to eyeballs (on me) around the world. When it came out it was one of the most successful shows on TV on the planet.”

It was at this point in Jean-Louis’ career that he began “playing his international card.” He formed his own production company Jetmedia Productions co-founded with his wife Evelyn.

Jetmedia Production is based in Los Angeles and was founded in 2008. The Pan-African entity develops content and manages talent. The goal of Jean-Louis’ production company is to tell universal stories from a Pan-African perspective. 

Jetmedia is responsible for the films, Rattlesnakes, Deserances, Jimmy Goes to Nollywood and Everything But a Man. “I want to produce films that will put me at the center of the story and tell stories Hollywood will never tell,” said Louis.

Jean-Louis would say his most important project to date would be the French film, Toussaint Louverture. He stars at the titular characters, and the film won the Best Diaspora Feature award at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards.

Toussaint Louverture is about the hero who gave Haiti its independence against Napoleon Bonaparte back in 1804. “Haiti is the first Black republic to fight back and win their independence,” said Jean-Louis. “The only Black nation to have a successful battle against their oppressors and win.”

For more information on Jimmy Jean-Louis and his production company Jetmedia Productions visit www.jetmediaproductions.com.

Keith L. Underwood is the host of the KBLA Talk 1580 entertainment radio show, "Black In The Green Room."  A former entertainment publicist, he currently develops platforms for performers, creatives and Hollywood execs to shine and inspire. IG: @umaworldwide

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