Let’s face it: change is never easy. But Jay Ellis makes it worthwhile.
The newest player on BET’s sports dramedy The Game had some big cleats to fill following the departure of series regulars Pooch Hall and Tia Mowry-Hardrict, but is handling the task with ease. UPTOWN recently got the opportunity to speak with Ellis about stepping into the breakout role, the “Fresh Prince” that turned him on to acting, a celebrity crush (or two) and more.
Ready? Game on.
A Dream Fulfilled
Ellis is certainly a man of many talents.
His athletic abilities earned him a basketball scholarship to Concordia University in Portland, Ore. He cashed in on his handsome looks as a model, booking his first campaign with Air Jordan Brand. He opened stores for True Religion, Reiss and Kitson as a retail executive. Yet throughout it all, acting remained a constant passion.
“Basketball at the college level takes up so much of your time and you don’t have the opportunity to do things like [acting],” he admitted. “Once I got out of school and had the opportunity to sit down and look at what I really wanted to do– why I moved to L.A., what my passions were– I made the decision.”
Rookie Of The Year
In the truest form of art imitating life, fans waved goodbye to Hall and his beloved character Derwin Davis as the show ushered in Ellis to play Bryce “The Blueprint” Westbrook during the season opener. Fortunately, the new kid on the block was welcomed with open arms.
“The cast was pretty easy, thankfully. They were really good people and they showed a lot of love,” he explained. Ellis recalled meeting his castmates at a table read before the first episode and was immediately taken into The Game’s tight-knit family.
Of course, the job comes with its share of critics. The exit of Hall and Mowry was hardly seamless for diehard fans of the series, but Ellis doesn’t indulge in the negative feedback surrounding the switch-up.
“I get it. There are people who’ve been with this show from day one and they’ve fallen in love with these characters and now they’re gone. I understand it,” Ellis said. “[…] But it’s the nature of what this show is about. It’s about football and players truly come and go. No matter what you still love your team, even though a player is gone.”
A Model Career
Prior to landing a lead role on the popular BET series, Ellis made appearances on Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, How I Met Your Mother and more, as well as Movie 43 alongside Terrence Howard. And as his star continues to rise, he’s hoping to pattern his career after a few Hollywood heavyweights.
“I would love to go back and forth from a slice of life indie film to a big studio blockbuster,” he stated, noting Ryan Gosling, George Clooney and Will Smith as inspirations.
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is part of the reason why I fell in love with acting. I’d be a fool if I said I didn’t want that career.”
Respect The Hustle
When he’s not on set, Ellis enjoys watching football and basketball games — namely the San Francisco 49ers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers (pre-elimination, of course). He also serves as co-owner of a pair of fitness clubs in Louisiana and is a certified yoga and Pilates teacher.
“We do smoothies, juices and fresh lunches. We have a chef that creates a menu for us that she delivers every two or three days,” he explained. “We sell fitness apparel, books, candles and lotions. It’s a cool deal.”
Love Jones
Easily one of the toughest questions during our brief chat with Ellis forced the, ahem, single actor to come clean: Who is his celebrity crush?
“I’m going to go with Zoe Saldana,” he said after mulling over his choices. “Or maybe Halle [Berry]. She’s always up there. It’s not even a question.”
Agreed. But what was up for debate were Ellis’ thoughts on Saldana’s controversial role as legendary singer Nina Simone.
“The thing about Zoe is she’s an artist so I feel like she’s an actor who’s going to research, hibernate and find every little detail about Nina Simone,” he answered. “She’s going to make sure the story she’s telling is so truthful and so telling of the real thing. It’s someone who I know for sure is going to put in the work, so I was pretty excited about it.”
The Game airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on BET.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
