Multi-hyphenate star, Jasmin Brown, grew up with dreams to work in the entertainment industry, and is now filling our homes and hearts with laughter through her raw and authentic style of comedy.

 

“I’ve always had a dream of being in entertainment. I’ve always been a character, from church plays to dressing up and doing improvisation with my family and things.” Brown continued sharing that, as a child, she would use her allowance to buy wigs and costumes to create characters.

 

“I would get a disposable camera, and I’d have my brother and sister take pictures of me dressed as someone else,” she shared. “I would even change my voice when I played Barbies, making sure they had different personalities and voices, so I knew that I was always a character actor. When I got older, I started taking classes and things like that.”

 

The actress, writer, producer, and standup comedian is well known for inspiring people around the world through her humor but is also well known for her social media persona, Toya Turnup’s, in-car rants, along with her fan-favorite role as Deja in the BET+ show “Zatima”.

 

Brown labeled Deja as “the girl everybody knows” on “Zatima”.

 

“There’s an episode on ‘Zatima’ where Fatima (Crystal Renee Hayslett) was like ‘I know exactly who that is, I don’t even have to know her.’…

We all know a girl like that, who will smile in your face but be right after your man.”

Jasmin Brown shared that Davale Ellis, who plays the main character, Zac, in “Zatima”, had immediately thought of her when crafting the character of Deja. After auditioning for the role, she’d gotten hired on the spot.

 

“I love playing Deja because I’m not that girl,” Brown said. “You know, take away the negativity that she’s chasing after someone’s man and whatever.

 

It’s written that Deja kind of won’t let up, but for me, Deja is a hustler. She doesn’t like to be told no, it’s like a challenge.”

 

 

She continues, “So it’s not even that she’s really into Zac like that. It’s just the fact that he keeps saying no.

 

I believe if she ever really got her way, she would be over it.

 

Usually the cat-and-mouse game would be opposite. It’s a man chasing the woman, so it’s cool to be a woman and chase the guy. And there’s so much comedy in there. It’s just so fun playing her..It just feels cool to be someone else, and to be acknowledged as the character people love to hate.”

 

Season 2 of “Zatima” airs March 16th, and Brown shared that fans will be seeing a lot more of her character.

 

“…you might start to like her or not. You know, I think there’s a lot of really cool moments where people will see Deja’s not that bad, or she’s actually kind of funny. I can kind of relate to her in that way,” said the comedian. “You see way more of her [in season 2], even though she’s got some tricks up her sleeve. I still think that she’s likable.”

 

 

With this, Brown shared that “she loves being the villain” in the show.

“I like being the one that, every time you see my character, you’re like ‘oh, here she goes!’” She laughed, “Giving the fans and audience that reaction every time I come on screen that it’s gonna be some mess. That’s what I really love about that character.”

 

Jasmin Brown is a woman making a name for herself with the comedy sector, a male dominated industry, and it being National Women’s month, her advice for women is “to do what works for you.”

 

“You don’t really need advice,” she said. “Trust yourself. You know, I'm a person who is an over thinker, but deep down like I know what I'm capable of, and I do trust myself, I do trust my abilities and I do trust my talents. You have to just stick to whatever it is you’re doing and don't care if there's other people doing the thing. You do it.”

 

 

“There's gonna be people who always love your stuff, that are always gonna come back to you. And they're always gonna support you.

You have your fans, you have your support system, you have your team. It's important to really identify that and know what that means to you. So, yeah, trust yourself, stick to your guns and do it yourself.”

For more information on Jasmine Brown, you can check out her Instagram (@watchjazzy).

Category: Cover Stories