Leslie Jones
Leslie Jones is an actor, born 1967.
Leslie Jones spent decades in comedy clubs before television worked out what to do with her. The earliest credit in this catalog is a small part in National Security (2003), billed as Trucker Woman. She was a featured performer at Just for Laughs in Montreal and at the Aspen Comedy Festival, and Showtime broadcast her first hour, Problem Child, in 2010. Saturday Night Live hired her in 2014, where she worked as both writer and cast member until 2019.
Her comedy runs on volume and total commitment, and what people miss is how precisely both are aimed. The SNL work brought Emmy nominations in 2017 and 2018 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, unusual recognition for a sketch performer, and she earned it inside a house style she does not fit: she plays bigger than the room, so the sketches that worked were the ones built around her rather than the ones she was slotted into.
Film has been less generous. Ghostbusters (2016) gave her Patty Tolan and a blockbuster lead, and she is the most alive thing in it. Since then the offers have skewed to voice work and broad comedy, Zeta in The Angry Birds Movie 2, Meena's mother in Sing, Mary Junson in Coming 2 America, Charlotte in Good Burger 2, Spanish Jackie in Our Flag Means Death.
She also hosted the revived Supermarket Sweep, which suits her better than most scripts do, because the persona hides a disciplined improviser and a game show is improvisation with a clock running.
Movies (11)
TV (9)
Where to start with Leslie Jones
Ghostbusters is the fairest test of her on film. Patty Tolan is the only character in it written like a person, and Jones plays her at full volume without ever letting the joke land at her own expense.
The best sustained work is on television. Our Flag Means Death gives her Spanish Jackie, a guest part she annexes completely, and it is the funniest she has been in anything scripted. The Daily Show as guest host and Late Night with Seth Meyers are where the stand-up instincts show with no character in the way.
In animation, The Angry Birds Movie 2 is the one where the casting makes sense, since Zeta is written for a big voice. Coming 2 America and Top Five are the two live-action supporting turns worth your time, and Masterminds is the one to skip.