Name: Jasmine "Jazzy" Ellis
Hometown: Union, NJ
Current location: Atlanta, GA
What were you involved with at Princeton?
Xpressions, TapCats, Sympoh. Chapter President of NAACP. Black Student Union. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
What is your favorite memory of Princeton?
My favorite memory of Princeton is graduating. When a day comes that you weren't sure would ever come, it's exciting.
What have you been up to in the five years (!) since graduation? What are you currently doing? What has your path been like since college? What's next?
After graduating college, I was still going through the motions and doing what I thought was expected of me. I applied to 18 medical schools before coming to terms with the fact that I was looking for a different kind of life than that of an MD. I moved to New Orleans and became a teacher while I figured things out. I taught Spanish, Math, and Special Education, among other things. All the while, I was dabbling with pageantry. I placed in many regional pageants, including 2nd Runner Up in Miss New Jersey USA, Miss Orleans USA, and Miss Congeniality at the Miss Louisiana USA pageant. That helped me transition into modeling, which helped me transition into acting and stunts. I have been a SAG-AFTRA stunt performer for film for two and a half years. I've done stunts on Selma, NCIS: New Orleans, Terminator: Genisys, Vacation, Under the Dome, and Gotham, among others. (Check them out here: https://youtu.be/_JrqeeYqx-4) I plan on continuing with stunts until my body gives out on me. I am also an independent film producer, and I'm currently producing social justice films, sci fi films, and horror films. I love the film industry, so as long as I can spend my life being involved in some way with movie magic, I'll be happy.
What about your life now would your sophomore-year self be most surprised by?
Sophomore year Jazz (as I was known then) thought she would become a family doctor in a small quiet town somewhere..... I'd say my ability to have a new and exciting adventure everyday is surprising.
What's a lesson/belief/idea/skill you've learned since graduating?
Since graduating, I learned to not care about what other people want for my life, and instead to guide myself on my own personal and professional journey. It's been working out pretty well for me, I think.
Jazzy Ellis - Stunt Double for Kylie Bunbury on Under the Dome.
Jazzy Ellis - Stunt Double for CCH Pounder on NCIS New Orleans.