10 Things You Didn’t Know about Leslie Jones

leslie jones

We all know and love Leslie Jones from Saturday Night Live and from her other acting gigs, but most people don’t know all that much about it. She’s part of the new “Ghostbusters” movie and she’s making waves every single time we turn around, but ask yourself how much you really know about the star. You know she’s hilarious. You know she can act. You know you love her. But do you know anything else about her? Probably not; because we live in a world in which you have to be on social media every second of every single day, half naked most of the time or always showing up in the tabloids for the general public to care at all about your personal life.

What we do know about Leslie Jones is that she’s good at keeping her personal life personal. You don’t see her name splashed across the tabloids when you’re picking up dinner at the end of the day. You don’t see any of her familial issues in print. She leaves you alone, and we leave her alone. That’s nice about her. However, we’re going to get a bit nosy and see what we don’t already know about her so that we can satisfy our own inherent curiosity for the time being.

She’s a southern girl

Did you know that Leslie Jones was born in Tennessee? In Memphis, to be precise. That means she’s got all the southern charm you might expect, but she also knows how to handle herself in any situation in any walk of life. I’m telling you right now, there is nothing stronger, more delicate and more capable than a southern woman; she never reveals too much about herself.

She’s an Army brat

Leslie Jones’ father was part of the United States Army when she was growing up, so she moved around a lot. It’s par for the course, but I imagine it is also something that really does make you grow up fast and actually learn a lot about yourself. Nothing is worse than never truly feeling as if you are at home or as if you have actual real relationships than picking up and leaving what you do know every few years.

She played basketball growing up

Did you know Leslie Jones is an athlete? When she went into high school, her father took a job at a radio station in Los Angeles to keep his daughter in one place. He was an electronics engineer, and they settled. She tried out for her school’s basketball team and she made it. She was good, too. She enjoys sports and being an athlete, as do all the best people.

She wanted to be a lawyer

Growing up, Leslie Jones had no intention of becoming a comedian or a move star. In fact, she actually wanted to become an attorney. She went to college to get her degree and even worked hard at her path for law school, but she never actually attended law school. That’s kind of a shame, too, because we would have loved to have seen her in that role in life.

She went to college for ball

Leslie Jones was so good at basketball in high school that she actually earned herself a full scholarship to play ball in college. She went to Chapman University at the start of her career. However, when her coach moved to Colorado State University, she followed. She loved the sport so much she actually thought she might play ball overseas and make a career of it for herself.

She’s been funny for a long time

To be quite fair, Leslie Jones has probably been funny her entire life. It’s not really something we think you can develop as you get older. She’s been in the comedy business, more accurately, since 1987. I was only four at the time she began doing standup, if that gives you any indication how long she’s been doing this job.

Her friends thought she was funny

In fact, Leslie Jones did not have any intention on being a comedian. Her friends thought she was funny, so they took the time to sign her up for a competition at her college for the funniest persona on campus. When she won that, she thought she might begin working night clubs and seeing about becoming a comedian. She moved back to LA and began standup work at local night clubs. She worked at a restaurant and at UPS during the day, however.

It took a long time to get famous

It’s not easy to be a comedian in a world where everyone thinks that they are funny. Leslie Jones spent some serious time in her life working hard to become a comedian, and she made it to a certain extent. She’s been appearing on television shows and on stage with more famous comedians for almost a decade, but she still did not actually really make it until 2013.

SNL didn’t hire her at first

When Leslie Jones decided she would become part of SNL by applying for the role of a female comedian, she was not given the job. She was given a job as a writer, but not as someone who would appear on the show on stage. She did manage to appear sometimes on the weekly updates portion of the show around 2014, and that is when things began to turn around for her in terms of her regular appearances. When she began making controversial jokes, people began talking about her and making her even more famous.

She’s the oldest person to become an SNL cast member

Here’s an interesting fact you might not know. Leslie Jones is the oldest person in the history of SNL to ever become a cast member. She’s 47, and that means she’s officially older than anyone else who ever tried out for the role and became a regular. That’s kind of awesome to get that type of opportunity at that stage in life; good for her.

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