Abbott Elementary's Janelle James on 'Huge Learning Experience of Touring with Chris Rock: 'Just Surreal' (original) (raw)

Janelle James has received acclaim — and a 2022 Primetime Emmy nomination — for her breakout role on Abbott Elementary, and the actress owes her on-point comic timing, in part, to her roots in standup.

In 2017, her act received a major boost when she toured with comedy superstar Chris Rock.

"That was just surreal," says James, who plays the delightfully self-centered principal Ava Coleman on the Quinta Brunson-created hit ABC sitcom, which airs its season 2 finale on April 19. "That was, at that time, the most money I ever made doing standup."

Gilles Mingasso/ABC

Watching a master in action gave her a crash course in how to successfully carve out a niche in the field. She rattles off a list of things Rock taught her: "How do you run a tour? What goes into this? How do you prepare? Who do you bring on? Who do you bring along? How does he conduct himself and keep himself healthy and excited about doing the same hour every night for months on end?"

"So that was a huge learning experience for me," she says. "And then just another notch in my respect belt that people heard that I was touring with Chris Rock. It gives you some ... credibility."

James at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards in January 2023. Amy Sussman/Getty

Before doing standup for the first time at 30 while living in Illinois, the then-married (to a teacher) mother of two toiled in a series of "hustle jobs" while based in New York City, where she studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology. "Fashion marketing, waitressing, hostessing, administrative assistant, executive assistant. I've taught Zumba; I've cooked; I used to make my own clothes. I did a lot of everything to pay my rent," she tells PEOPLE.

Then, one fateful night at a comedy club, she stepped onto the road to her destiny. "I watched the open mic the week before, and it was just all White guys because I was in the Midwest," she says. "They were getting laughs, and I was like, 'Well, I'm definitely as funny as they are. If they're getting laughs, I know I can.'"

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She spent the next several years honing her standup act, before forging her connection with Rock. Through him, she landed a job as a writer on The Rundown with Robin Thede.

"Chris Rock was going to produce a show for me, so I went over to her show to just get my feet wet and see what it would be like to have my own show and what it entailed, and also to decide what kind of show I even wanted," she remembers. "That was a great learning experience watching [Robin] and how hard she worked, and it also helped me to decide that I didn't want a show at that time. So I went back to standup."

She also released her debut comedy album, Black and Mild, and logged time as a writer on the Showtime series Black Monday before coming across Brunson's script for the pilot episode of Abbott Elementary.

"It was so funny, and the characters were so clear," she says. So James auditioned — four times. "It was during quarantine, all over Zoom with progressively more important people on it," she says. "Then I got it, and I was in L.A., like a dream."

James and Sheryl Lee Ralph in Abbott's Halloween episode. Gilles Mingasson/ABC via Getty Images

With all her recent success, James is still doing standup (her current NewlyFamous comedy tour will wrap in July) and still hustling — though it's no longer just about getting paid.

"[I want] every project that I work on to be as fulfilling as this one and to continue to work with nice people," says James, whose "North Star dream" is to play Storm in the X-Men universe (Ava dressed as the superhero for Halloween on Abbott). "I'll turn down money over experience any day. It's not worth it to me to be upset and angry at work. I am just always looking for a good time."

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Abbott Elementary airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.