Jimmy Jean Louis
Haiti
8th August 1968
Petion-Ville, Haiti
In 1998, Louis moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. He appeared in underground and independent films, before landing a role in Jean Claude Van Damme’s ‘Derailed’. This opportunity set the stage for subsequent roles with other Hollywood A-listers. He appeared in films such as ‘Tears of the Sun’ alongside Bruce Willis and Monica Belluci, ‘Hollywood Homicide’ with Harrison Forde and Josh Hartnet and ‘Monster-In-Law’ alongside Jane Fonda and Jenifer Lopez, just to name a few. 2006 proved to be a very fruitful year for Jimmy Jean Louis, he landed lead roles in ‘The Diary of a Tired Black Man’ and ‘Phat Girlz’, starring opposite Oscar winner, Monique Imes Jackson as her love interest. That same year, Louis played the role of ‘The Haitian’, a Haitian superhero in the TV show ‘Heroes’. This was a character he was extremely proud to play as he believed it portrayed Haitians in a very positive light on one of the most successful shows on TV. One of the biggest highlights of Louis’ career so far, was the opportunity to play the role of Toussaint L‘Ouverture, in the biopic of the revolutionary Haitian leader. The film was shot in French with a little Kreyol and was filmed in France and Martinique.
With all his success, Jimmy Jean Louis, has never forgotten where he has come from. In fact, he uses his success to give back to the Haitian community. Louis founded the organisation, ‘Holly wood Unites’ in 2008 as a means of helping the people of his beloved native land, Haiti. It is a non-profit organisation; whose mission is to promote sports and cultural activities for the underprivileged youth of Haiti. They focus on sports and culture to brighten the hearts and minds of the children. It encourages them to build confidence, competence and gives them a sense of community. As well as this, they learn invaluable life skills and citizenship. The organisation creates arts and sports programmes in areas where there aren’t any. They provide existing grassroots organisations with equipment, supplies and funds to help them accomplish their goals.
A catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, bringing much devastation and loss of life. The house in which Jimmy Jean Louis grew up in was destroyed and many of his relatives were killed. The earthquake also destroyed a school, which left over 100 students without a place to learn. The Hollywood Unites organisation, have since rebuilt the school in Cadet, a very remote part of the country, where 90% of the people don’t know how to read and write. Evidently, the need to rebuild the school was great, the school not only provides children with an education but also with one meal a day.
Jimmy Jean Louis, has a beautiful family of his own. All of his children were born and live with him in America, however he has ensured that they are aware of their Haitian heritage. They travel to Haiti frequently and he speaks the language to them at home. Jimmy Jean Louis, one of the most prominent black actors in Hollywood and arguably the most successful Haitian actor in Hollywood, Caribbean1st absolutely salutes you.