Orlando Jones Talks About His `Ride' From TV Writer To Actor And New Movie, `Evolution'

Jet, July 9, 2001

Orlando Jones didn't travel a straight path to his goal of being a movie actor.

Jones, who co-stars in the newly released science-fiction film Evolution, knew he wanted to be an actor since age 17 while he was growing up in South Carolina.

He first set foot in Hollywood as a writer, though he "never planned on being behind the screen," Jones told JET. "That's the fluke."

Jones, 33, started writing commercials and then, at 20, was hired to write for the Black college TV series "A Different World" in the late 1980s. He went on to write for the TV series "Roc Live (1991)" and co-produced "The Sinbad Show (1993)."

"I kept moving up the ladder, but that's not what I set out to do," said Jones. "So I basically quit."

At 25, Jones started auditioning for acting roles and landed a two-year stint as a cast member of Fox TV's sketch comedy show, "Mad TV."

"It all kind of jumped from there," said Jones, who's co-starred with Eddie Griffin in the action-comedy Double Take. "Four years later, here I am starring in a big, summer blockbuster. It's been a ride, but the plan was never to be behind the camera. That was really something I did out of necessity. Everyone has their own way. That was mine."