Jimmy Jean-Louis
Jean-Louis at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born (1968-08-08) August 8, 1968
Pétion-Ville, Haiti
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
Years active1993–present

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 2007-2010. He played the title character in the 2012 French telefilm Toussaint Louverture.

Early life

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

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. 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]

Personal life

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. He also received the key to the city of North Miami on May 3, 2018 from Mayor Joseph Smith.

He is a patron of the BrandAID Project.[9]

2010 Haiti earthquake efforts

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.

Jean-Louis was named Ambassador-at-large to Haiti by President Michel Martelly in 2014.

Awards

Jimmy Jean-Louis at the Golden Stars of French cinema ceremony in 2011.

Filmography

Film
YearFilmRoleNotes
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 (film) Lucien N'Dyare
Rise Modu
2022 Detective Knight: Rogue Godwin Sango [10]
Detective Knight: Redemption Godwin Sango
2023 Detective Knight: Independence Godwin Sango
Aadujeevitham Ibrahim Khadiri Indian Malayalam language film
Assassin Club Inspector Leon
Jagged Mind Papa Juste
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
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 (mini-série) 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

  1. 1 2 "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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Jimmy Jean-Louis". IMDb. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hiatt, Anna (January 16, 2010). "Jimmy Jean-Louis". TV.com. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jimmy Jean-Louis Biography". Starpulse.com. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ Jimmy Jean-Louis biography at the Mobile Film Festival 12th Edition website (in Spanish and several other languages). Accessed 12 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Jimmy Jean-Louis biography on Comme au Cinéma (in French). Accessed 12 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Rattlesnakes, retrieved April 5, 2020
  9. ↑ BRANDAID PATRONS Archived February 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ Billington, Alex (September 14, 2022). "Official Trailer for Thriller 'Detective Knight: Rogue' with Bruce Willis". First Showing. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
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