Jimmy Jean-Louis (born August 8, 1968) is a Haitian actor and producer. Born in Pétion-Ville, he moved to Paris at a young age with his family in search of a better life. His early roles were in French television commercials and Spanish musical theatre.[1] Eventually settling in Los Angeles in the late 1990s, he had small roles in The Bourne Identity, Tears of the Sun and Arliss before breaking into larger roles in American television and film. He played the character of "the Haitian" on the NBC television series Heroes from 2007 to 2010. He played the title character in the 2012 French telefilm Toussaint Louverture. In 2024, he co-produced and acted in the Indian film The Goat Life alongside Prithviraj.
Jimmy Jean-Louis | |
|---|---|
 Jean-Louis at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International | |
| Born | August 8, 1968 |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1993–present |
Early life edit
Jimmy Jean-Louis was born in Pétion-Ville, near Port-au-Prince, Haiti.[2][3] He lived there until the age of twelve, when he moved to Paris with his family to pursue a modeling career. After moving he experienced a culture shock because of the rural to city lifestyle change.[2][3][4] He enrolled in business courses, but quickly realized that his heart lay in performance, and studied at the Académie Internationale de la Danse.[5] His parents returned to Haiti, but Jean-Louis and his brother remained in Paris.[4] Around a decade later in 1991, producers discovered Jean-Louis during one of his dancing stints in a French club.[5] They tapped him to appear in a Coca-Cola advertisement, the success of which prompted Jean-Louis to spend several years modeling across Europe.[5] In London he worked for brands including Gianfranco Ferré and Valentino.[4][5] Before finding success as a model, he was homeless at times in Paris.[4] By the mid-'90s, he had appeared in music videos for Ophelie Winter, En Vogue, Mariah Carey, Seal, and George Michael. He also began appearing in low-budget independent films in Los Angeles.[5]
Acting career edit
He worked in musical theatre in Barcelona, Spain, spending three years with musical theater "La Belle Epoque",[1][6][7] before moving to Italy where he worked as a model.[3][4] He had secondary roles in Tears of the Sun, Hollywood Homicide, Monster-in-Law and The Game of Their Lives.[3][4] He was cast as the romantic lead in the 2006 film Phat Girlz starring opposite Mo'Nique as her love interest.[3][4] He was cast in the recurring role of The Haitian on the NBC television series Heroes, playing a character who is an associate of Noah Bennet.[3][5] In an interview on The Post Show on G4, Jean-Louis stated that the Haitian was originally supposed to be from New Zealand, and that the character was going to be named "The Kiwi". He stated that he auditioned three times for the role of D.L. Hawkins, a part which he did not get.
In 2013, it was announced that Jean-Louis had been cast in a recurring role in Arrow. He portrayed "The Captain", an associate of Professor Ivo.[citation needed] In 2015, he took on a supporting role in the British film, The Cursed Ones. He had a recurring role on season one of Claws but was upgraded to a starring role in season 2.
In 2018, he was a jury member at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival and Angouleme Film Festival. In 2019 he both produced and starred in 'Rattlesnakes', based on the stage play by Graham Farrow.[8]
In 2024, He co-produced and acted in The Goat Life, an Indian-Malayalam language movie.[9] [10]
Personal life edit
Jean-Louis and his wife Evelyn have three children.[4] He enjoys watching and playing soccer and is a member of an amateur soccer club Hollywood United F.C., a team consisting mostly of celebrities and former professionals.[4] He is fluent in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Haitian Creole.[3][4]
Jean-Louis received the key to Miami-Dade County on January 10, 2010 from Mayor Carlos Alvarez.[citation needed] He also received the key to the city of North Miami on May 3, 2018 from Mayor Joseph Smith.[citation needed]
He is a patron of the BrandAID Project.[11]
2010 Haiti earthquake efforts edit
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Jean-Louis went to Haiti to search for his elderly parents in Haiti the day after a powerful earthquake struck the nation.[2] Jean-Louis learned that a house he had grown up in collapsed, killing several of his relatives.[2] He is the founder of Hollywood Unites for Haiti, a non-profit charitable aid organization whose original mission was to provide sports and cultural education to underprivileged youth on the island.[2] The group mobilized for disaster relief after the magnitude-7 earthquake.[2] Jean-Louis has taken part in a series of campaigns for Haitian aid, such as singing in the "We Are The World" remake of the original for Haiti in February 2010 which aired during the start of the Olympic Games in Vancouver. As the Ambassador of the Pan American Development Foundation for Haitian children, Jean-Louis testified to the United States Congress on their behalf in 2010.[citation needed]
Jean-Louis was named Ambassador-at-large to Haiti by President Michel Martelly in 2014.[citation needed]
Awards edit
- 2012 Best Actor Nomination (Toussaint Louverture (film)) - Monte-Carlo Television Festival
- 2012 Best Actor Nomination (Toussaint Louverture (film)) - Africa Movie Academy Awards
- 2012 MPAH Haiti Movie Awards Honorary Award * Motion Picture Association of Haiti
- 2012 Meilleur Acteur - Festival Vues_d'Afrique
- 2012 Best Actor Toussaint Louverture (film) - Pan African Film Festival
- 2013 Excellence in the Arts prize - Caribbean American Heritage Award
- 2015 Best Documentary Nomination (Jimmy Goes to Nollywood) - Monte-Carlo Television Festival
- 2015 Best Documentary Nomination (Jimmy Goes to Nollywood) - Africa Movie Academy Awards
- 2017 Best Supporting Actor - Hollywood African Prestigious Awards
- 2019 Career Achievement Award - Montreal International Black Film Festival
- 2019 Meilleur Acteur de la Diaspora Africaine (Desrances) - Sotigui Awards
- 2019 Sotigui D'Or - Sotigui Awards
- 2019 Impact In Entertainment Award - Face2Face Africa
- 2020 Best Actor Win at the Africa Movie Academy Awards
- 2023 Best Supporting Actor Win at the Africa Movie Academy Awards
Filmography edit
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Derailed | Henry | |
| The Bourne Identity | Wombosi bodyguard #5 | Uncredited | |
| 2003 | Tears of the Sun | Gideon | |
| Hollywood Homicide | Gianfranco Ferre Clerk | ||
| This Girl's Life | Action Jackson | ||
| 2005 | Monster-in-Law | Prince Amir | |
| Age of Kali | Ferdinand | ||
| The Game of Their Lives | Joe Gaetjens | ||
| 2006 | Phat Girlz | Dr. Tunde Jonathan | |
| Cousines | Ralph | Haitian film | |
| Le President a-t-il Le Sida | Dao | Haitian Film by Arnold Antonin | |
| 2008 | Diary of a Tired Black Man | James | |
| Adventures of Power | Aubelin | ||
| Loaded | Antonio | ||
| The Ball is Round | Jay Jay Mfede | Also known as Golden Goal! (USA) | |
| 2009 | Orpailleur | Myrtha | |
| Moloch Tropical | Francis | ||
| I Sing of a Well | Narrator | ||
| 2010 | Coursier | Loki | French film |
| Sinking Sands | Jimah Sanson | ||
| Relentless | Candidate | ||
| The Penthouse | Buzz McManus | ||
| 2011 | A Butterfly Kiss | L'homme au tableau | |
| 2012 | Toussaint Louverture | Toussaint Louverture | French telefilm |
| 2013 | One Night In Vegas | Nick | |
| Doctor Bello | |||
| The Mark of the Angels-Miserere | Puyferrat | ||
| Five Thirteen | JJL | ||
| 2015 | The Cursed Ones | Paladin | UK/Ghanaian film by Zissou Pictures Ltd. |
| Joy | Toussaint | ||
| 2016 | The Empty Box | Toussaint | |
| 2017 | Cargo | Jean | |
| Catastropico | Damien | ||
| Esohe | Gary Baba | Nigerian/USA film | |
| 2018 | The Outer Wild | Ramson | |
| 2019 | Rattlesnakes | Robert McQueen | |
| Desrances | Francis Desrances | ||
| Everything But A Man | Max | ||
| 2020 | Citation | Lucien N'Dyare | |
| Rise | Modu | ||
| 2022 | Detective Knight: Rogue | Godwin Sango | [12] |
| Detective Knight: Redemption | Godwin Sango | ||
| 2023 | Detective Knight: Independence | Godwin Sango | |
| Assassin Club | Inspector Leon | ||
| Jagged Mind | Papa Juste | ||
| 2024 | Aadujeevitham | Ibrahim Khadiri | Indian Malayalam-language film
Also producer |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Emmanuelle Forever | ||
| Emmanuelle's Love | |||
| Emmanuelle's Magic | Tribesman in the hut | ||
| Emmanuelle's Secret | |||
| Emmanuelle in Venice | |||
| 2001 | Arliss | Caesar Montenez | 1 episode |
| 2003 | The District | Jean-Paul Bertrand | 1 episode |
| Fastlane | Haitian #1 | 1 episode | |
| 2005 | Dr. Vegas | Xola | 1 episode |
| The Shield | Ididsa Okoye | Episode: "A Thousand Deaths" | |
| 2006–2009 | Heroes | The Haitian | Recurring role (32 episodes) |
| 2007 | Heroes Unmasked | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Entertainment Tonight | Himself | February 4, 2010 |
| The Mo'Nique Show | Himself | February 4, 2010 | |
| 2013 | Arrow | The Captain | Recurring role |
| 2014 | Extant | Pierre Lyon | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Heroes Reborn | The Haitian | Recurring role (6 episodes) |
| 2017 | Claws | Dr. Gregory Ruval | Recurring role (season 1) Starring role (season 2) |
| The Brave | Lieutenant | 1 episode | |
| Juste un regard | Eric Toussaint | 6 episodes | |
| The Way | Inspector Morand | 10 episodes | |
| 2018 | S.W.A.T | Sal Desir | 1 episode |
| 2019 | SMILF | Henri | 1 episode |
References edit
- ^ a b "Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis joins cast of ‘Heroes Reborn’ on NBC", interview by Taroue Brooks, Rolling Out, 13 August 2015. Accessed 12 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Jo Piazza, Special to CNN. "'Heroes' actor searching for parents after earthquake". CNN.com. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d e f g "Jimmy Jean-Louis". IMDb. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hiatt, Anna (January 16, 2010). "Jimmy Jean-Louis". TV.com. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "Jimmy Jean-Louis Biography". Starpulse.com. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ^ Jimmy Jean-Louis biography at the Mobile Film Festival 12th Edition website (in Spanish and several other languages). Accessed 12 April 2017.
- ^ Jimmy Jean-Louis biography on Comme au Cinéma (in French). Accessed 12 April 2017.
- ^ Rattlesnakes, retrieved April 5, 2020
- ^ "Actor Jimmy Jean-Louis on Aadujeevitham, working in Indian cinema, and his struggles". The week.
- ^ "'The Goat Life' Starring Prithviraj Sukumaran & Jimmy-Jean Louis Launches Internationally". Deadline.
- ^ BRANDAID PATRONS Archived February 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Billington, Alex (September 14, 2022). "Official Trailer for Thriller 'Detective Knight: Rogue' with Bruce Willis". First Showing. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
External links edit
- Official home page
- Jimmy Jean-Louis at IMDb
- Interview with Jimmy Jean-Louis from The Company Podcast
- Jean-Louis' non-profit charitable aid organization Hollywood Unites for Haiti
- Jimmy Jean-Louis @ ECI Global Talent Management
- [1]