Summary
Janelle Jamesbegan her career doing stand-up comedy and, after only a few years, the actress, writer, and comedian has already amassed an impressive filmography. James got her comedy start performing in Illinois, eventually gaining the confidence to travel back and forth from New York City to pursue her career. She began to get noticed and soon, she was in the writing room for Chris Rock’sThe Rundown with Robin Thede. Since then, James has filled her calendar with roles in television and films while never forgetting her stand-up roots.
Most of her performances were small, one-episode guest roles or recurring charactersuntil she broke out in 2021 withAbbott Elementary. Playing Principal Ava Coleman at the titular school, James has rocketed into stardom, earning one Golden Globe nomination and two Emmy nominations.Abbott Elementaryproved to a wide audiencewhat her original fans had known all along, that Janelle James is a singularly funny and confident actor who can make even the smallest role pop off the screen.
Abbott Elementary Season 4 Needs More Of Its Most Underrated Character
Abbott Elementary season 4 needs to give one of the show’s most pivotal supporting stars more time in the spotlight after season 3 underused them.
Life & Beth
Cast
A wine distributor, Beth finds her perfectly crafted life unraveling after an unexpected event. Forced to confront her past through flashbacks of her teenage self in Long Island, Beth embarks on a transformative journey. As she faces the roots of her discontent, she learns to embrace life’s imperfections and experience it as it happens.
Life & Bethis an Amy Schumer-created dramedy starring Schumer as Beth, a sales rep in NYC who’s rethinking her life, and Michael Cera as John, a farmhand who befriends Beth after her job takes her to Long Island.Life & Bethis the third showcreated by Schumer afterExpecting AmyandInside Amy Schumer, and it continues the project of Schumer examining her life through a sometimes tragic but always hilarious lens.
Janelle James appears as Aminata in the pilot of the series, a saleswoman who meets Beth and Beth’s mother (Laura Benanti). Beth’s mother asks for coffee instead of the alcohol Aminata is serving and James steals the scene as she contends with the pushy, privileged woman trying to get what she wants. James got her start in stand-up, soit follows that she would happily appear in the pilot episode of a contemporary’s new show.
9Tom Of Your Life (2020)
Agent Parker
Tom of Your Lifeis a little-seen and fanciful film. Similar toBenjamin Button,Tom of Your Lifetells the story of a baby boy who biologically grows four years in the hour after his birth, and he doesn’t stop there. When the government hears about this anomaly, they arrive to take Tom away but his nurse, Jess (Baize Buzan), smuggles him out so he can enjoy life before time runs out.
As Agent Parker, James is serious and intimidating, showing more range than fans of her comedy may have expected.
Played by Judah Abner Paul at age 8, Dominic Rescigno at age 20, and Jeremy Sklar from 32 on up,Tom of Your Lifeis a poignant and thought-provoking story. It’s Janelle James' first film role and unlike many of her other performances, it’s a dramatic one. As Agent Parker,James is serious and intimidating, showing more range than fans of her comedy may have expected. If James decides to pivot into more dramatic roles later in her career, they may end up looking a bit like this one.
Central Park
This animated musical comedy follows the lives of the Tiller-Hunterman family, who live in Central Park’s Eden Castle. When an elderly, wealthy land developer plans to buy all the land to build condos and mini-malls, the family must work to save the park from destruction.
Created byBob’s Burgersshowrunner Loren Bouchard,Central Parkfeatures a similar visual style, tone, and comic sensibility. UnlikeBob’s Burgers,Central Parkis a full-on musical series, with the characters often breaking into song. Thanks to theimpressive list of songwriters involved inCentral Park, the show is a unique and catchy sitcom that’s worth a watch for both the music and the story about the Tillerman family trying to protect their home in Central Park from being developed.
Central Parkwas canceled after three seasons whileBob’s Burgersis ongoing.
Janelle James voices Park Ranger Fran, a recurring character in the series and a friend to the Tillermans, first seen in season 1, episode 4, “Garbage Ballet”. Fran doesn’t do anything of particular note, but she does reveal thatJames has some surprising singing skills, adding to her bag of tricks. While it’s nothing major, voicing a recurring character in a popular animated series is often a sign of an actor’s ubiquity.
7The Comedy Lineup (2018)
Herself (1 Episode)
Janelle James had been doing comedy for years before she appeared in the 2018 Netflix stand-up series,The Comedy Lineup, and she works the stage like a veteran pro. The special features 15-minute stand-up acts by James, Emma Willmann, Kate Willett, Matteo Lane, Aisling Bea, Josh Johnson, JR De Guzman, and Max Silvestri. James covers some very dark material, including cannibalism and unattractive Nazis, butshe tightrope walks through the sets and turns even the grimmest thoughts into hilarious jokes.
AboutThe Comedy Lineup, James told theDaily Dotshe wanted to try some,
“…stuff that I knew wouldn’t fly on late night.”
The first half ofThe Comedy Lineupaired in July 2018, while this second half came in September of the same year. Most of the sets in the special are timely, referencing what was currently going on in politics. James has plenty of coverage on Donald Trump and the American political system, but she always makes sure the joke comes first and her commentary second.
6Black Monday (2019-2021)
Joyce (4 Episodes, 2020-2021)
After years of stand-up and some small roles, Janelle James was invited to be a writer onBlack Mondayin 2020. This alternative historical dramedy depicts the events leading up to the August 23, 2025, Wall Street stock market crash, or, “Black Monday”. The show suggests the culprit behind the crash was the mid-level Wall Street trading firm Jammer Group, led by Maurice (Don Cheadle), Blair (Andrew Rannells), and Dawn (Regina Hall).
It never takes itself too seriously, just like James, which is perfect for a show that’s making up the history of an event anyway.
James appears in season 2, episodes 1, 2, 4, and 10 as Joyce. It’s a very small part, buther comic sensibilities come through in the writing of the show. The series can be dark and a little mean, but also loving. It never takes itself too seriously, just like James, which is perfect for a show that’s making up the history of an event anyway.
Star Trek: Lower Decks
“Star Trek: Lower Decks” focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the USS Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi must keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. The ship’s bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman, Commander Jack Ransom, Lieutenant Shaxs and Doctor T’Ana. This is the second animated spin-off in the franchise after 1973-74’s “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” but has a decidedly more adult tone and humor.
Star Trek: Lower Decksis an adult-animated science fiction series and the first animatedStar Trekseries sinceStar Trek: The Animated Seriesfrom 1974. The ongoing show follows the support crew of theCerritos, the lowest members of the Starfleet org chart. Janelle James guest stars in season 4, episode 5, “Empathological Fallacies” as Katrot, atelepathic being known as a Betazoid in theStar Trekcanon.
James' vocal work is as good as ever, and she perfectly projects a snobby, hard-partying, and indifferent character, while also keeping her very funny.
Katrot and her friends, Dolorex (Rachel Dratch) and Cathiw (Wendie Malick) are supposedly diplomats, but the Betazoids end up infecting the crew of theCerritoswith a “mind-plague” that makes them all act out of character and become emotionally unstable.James' vocal work is as good as ever, and she perfectly projects a snobby, hard-partying, and indifferent character, while also keeping her very funny. In that way, she’s not too far off from her character onAbbott Elementary.
Monsters At Work
Monsters at Work is a computer-animated series and a part of Disney’s popular Monsters, Inc, franchise. The series stars Billy Crystal and John Goodman as Mike and Sulley respectively, both of whom are reprising their roles from the Monsters, Inc movies. The first season arrived on Disney+ in mid-2021 and was fairly well-received by both viewers and critics.
The Disney+ seriesMonsters at Workis a direct continuation of Pixar’sMonsters, Inc., with Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman) now running the company after Waternoose was arrested. Having transitioned to laugh power, all the monsters are getting their bearings as they try to understand this new energy source. Joy (Janelle James) is a reptilian “scarer” at Fear Co. and though she presents herself as a laid-back, friendly coworker, she’s actually a hypercompetitive, backstabber.
A recurring character,Joy is a replacement for Randall(Steve Buscemi) from the original movie, as the new reptilian villain. However, as the series goes on, Joy softens and realizes working with the other scarers may be the right choice. James has often talked about her wish to be in the MCU, specifically as Storm of the X-Men. She’s dressed up as the character on Halloween and toldVariety,
“I’ll only diet for a Marvel movie. I will give up bacon and waffles to be Storm.”
Monsters at Workis a Disney production and could be James' first step in the door to getting her coveted role.
The Garfield Movie
The Garfield Movie, released in 2024, follows Garfield, the lasagna-loving cat, as he embarks on an outdoor adventure with his canine companion Odie. The journey begins when Garfield is unexpectedly reunited with his long-lost father, Vic, leading them to join a comedic, high-stakes heist.
The Garfield Movie(2024) is the third feature-length movie based on Jim Davis' lasagna-loving cat and the first time the character hasn’t been voiced by Bill Murray. In this fully animated movie, Garfield is voiced by Chris Pratt, and he’s surrounded by an impressive voice cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg. Janelle James voices Olivia, a green cat who used to work with Garfield’s father, Vic (Jackson).
Olivia is a character newly created for the movie and is not adapted from Jim Davis' work.
Garfield and Odie (Harvey Guillén) meet Olivia when they go to a dog and cat pound. Olivia has no problem telling Garfield what she really thinks about his family, as she complains about Garfield’s father.James puts her distinctive voice and attitude to great use in the performanceand once again shows how she can even make a minor character’s appearance one of the best parts of any film.
2The Standups (2017-2021)
Herself (1 Episode, 2021)
The Standups, a three-season Netflix series, isthe biggest stand-up special of Janelle James' career. The first two seasons of the show aired in 2017 and 2018, while the third, in which James appears, came out in 2021. Each season consists of six 30-minute stand-up acts by a group of talented and well-known comedians. The first two seasons featured names like Nate Bargatze, Nikki Glaser, and Gina Yashere.
James is surrounded by talented comedians like Melissa Villasenor and Mark Normand in season 3. She appears in episode 4, touching on Jeff Bezos going to space, Black people getting a reality check after Trump followed Obama into the White House, and how “plane people” have become “bus people” over the course of the pandemic. It’s extremely funny and James has a real talent for no-selling her jokes, so the punchlines catch the audience off guard, making them even funnier.
Abbott Elementary
Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary comedy series centered around a group of dedicated teachers at a struggling public school in Philadelphia. The show highlights their efforts to overcome bureaucratic challenges and underfunding, while showcasing their commitment to making a positive impact on their students' lives.
Janelle James was a revelation to many when she first appeared inAbbott Elementaryas the new principal of the titular school, Ava Coleman. Ava is an inept and disinterested principal who cares more about her appearance than her school. However, by the end of season 1, Coleman has begun to realize she may actually enjoy her job. Later seasons even find her learning the tools of her trade (which she’s already supposed to know, of course).
James' portrayal has earned her two Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe nomination and more could follow ifAbbott Elementaryseason 4 is ever confirmed.Ava steals nearly every scene she’s in and James can do no wrong as the absurd and out-of-her-depth principal. The audience should dislike Ava for all her conniving and blackmailing, butJanelle Jamesmakes it so one can’t help but root for her. She may be a wild card, but she’sAbbott Elementary’s wild card.
