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Jordan L. Jones is as Hilarious as his Character on FOX Comedy ‘REL’
When you think of Jordan L. Jones, think of pure comedy. The Quintessential Gentleman had a chance to catch up with him on his acting and his role in the smash hit Fox comedy, REL, which premiered September 9th. We only spoke for a short amount of time, but it was memorable, much like his character on the show. You will remember him. Jordan plays the little brother that incidentally got caught up selling ecstasy to college students.
We covered all the ground we needed to cover and he had me cracking up in the meantime. It’s a treat watching him flourish on-screen with the likes of Lil’ Rel and Sinbad, who plays their dad. The chemistry is unmatched. Jones admits, “What’s cool about the whole cast is we really have that connection on set.” It’s genuine. Jordan compares and states that it reminds him of Martin or Fresh Prince. Your laugh will remind you of the way you laughed when you saw Martin and Cole. It’s evident that the role he plays isn’t as far from his reality as you might think, but don’t get it twisted, he’s no drug dealer. He may be acting in most parts, but Jordan is a true character himself, for real.
What made you want to be an actor and when did you know?
I knew I wanted to be an actor and do comedy in high school, kind of being a class clown. I used to always get in trouble. I would have good grades, but the conduct was it. I would host things at school. I noticed this is what I want to do. I want to make people laugh and entertain. When I was young I did one commercial. It was an NFL play 60 commercial, it was like my first commercial ever, I auditioned and I got it. I really liked doing this. I ended up going to college. I went to USC, but it’s really hard going to a prestigious school like that and trying to balance auditions. I might have a final or I might have big classes. I can’t just miss because I have an audition that I may or may not get. During college I kind of took a hiatus and then after I graduated I just started working in entertainment being a PA (Personal Assistant); and seriously about a year and a half ago, about March 2017 is when I officially started acting.
Tell me about your character in REL.
The show is about REL, his short-comings, and his new-comings as a man. It’s loosely based upon his life, so some of the things are true and some of the things are stretched truth. I play his younger brother who recently just got let out of jail for selling ecstasy. I’m the brother who’s his younger brother, but I messed up. It’s not like I play a hardcore thug dude. I got caught up for selling ecstasy to college kids. It’s not harmless but not as hardcore as things that we see. I also wasn’t in jail for that long but we never talk about that, but I was only in jail for like six month; so I come out and my purpose on the show is basically, I’m just helping my brother. Every episode he goes through trials and tribulations, he’s trying to get his girl, trying to find a new girl, and trying to find a love interest. One of our episodes is about violence in Chicago and in every episode, I just try my way and try to help my brother out.
What are you most looking forward to the audience to see?
We all have our different roles and different paths and we all help each other. You’ll see our chemistry, but I’m looking most forward to developing more chemistry, getting to know each other even more outside of the actual show and inside, and understanding each other more. That just makes for good television. I can’t wait for the audience to see how good we react to each other, how we bounce off of each other’s ideas, and how we improve together.
What’s the biggest takeaway or message you’d like the audience to get?
This is why I really like REL. One of the biggest takeaways for the audience is literally realness. It’s genuine. Our tagline is real, relevant, and then REL. Then if this one thing I really enjoy about Rel is his persistence to make the show as real as possible, even though it’s comedic. There are slang terms or things that are going to be said, and he doesn’t want to sugarcoat it. The show is based in Chicago. He’ll fight for that because that’s what’s really being said. That’s one of the biggest things that I love about him. We just keep it funny and people always think it has to be one or the other. No, it can be funny and then we can tackle real stuff and then bring it back. That is when you know the takeaway. It’s definitely a good show. It’s how genuine it is while still being a sitcom, funny and people rolling out of their seats, but you can still paint a message afterward.
REL regular season premieres Sunday, September 30 on FOX!
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