Everything you’ve heard about Orlando Jones is true. As long as all you’ve heard is good things. He’s just as funny and smart as his social media presence would have you believe, but he’s even friendlier – is that possible?! – in person. His panel at Fan Expo on Friday was terrific and didn’t need a moderator. He told so many funny stories, including lots of imitations of both his family and celebrities, that I’m only going to try to hit some of the highlights here.
Jones is from the South and had no connections in Hollywood when he headed there. At one time he was pursuing a future in basketball – now-a-days he plays in the NBA’s celebrity league. His family didn’t know what to make of his heading off to Hollywood. Jones related that his uncles just kept defaulting to him being in some branch of the military.
While on MADtv he managed to get in trouble with both Stephen Spielberg and Bill Cosby. He based one sketch on his parents and how his father would get lost while driving and would refuse to take directions from his mother. In the sketch, however, it’s Schindler and his wife, and they called the sketch "Schindler’s Lost." Jones took a moment to comment that it’s satire. When writing satire, you don’t make offence – people take offence! Regardless, someone took the piece as anti-semetic and word got around to Stephen Spielberg, leading to a phone call from Quincy Jones who was in a helicopter with Spielberg during the call. Once Jones explained the sketch, they thought it was funny, but still shot it down.
When asked about what were his favorite roles, Jones answered that he hated everything he’s ever been in! He then asked the crowd if they liked the sound of their own voices. Of course, everyone said no, and he explained that watching himself is just like that. He always thinks he’s terrible.
He had great anecdotes about many of the movies he’s been in. He really enjoyed playing Bobby Seal in The Chicago 8 because it’s not the kind of part he normally gets. It was actually his second time playing opposite Philip Baker Hall. They were also in Magnolia but because the movie was too long, Jones’ storyline was completely cut from the movie. He said he felt like Ms Pacman when he got that call!
He said that Eddie Griffin is a wild man. They worked together on Double Take and Griffin would wreck a Ferrari and just get out and laugh. Griffin would simply refuse to say the lines as written, and Jones admitted the script wasn’t worth repeating.
He talked a little about filming Evolution by the Hoover dam. He said Julianne Moore was hysterical and David Duchovny would plant fart devices all over the set and then play innocent. It was clearly another really fun shoot. He and Seann William Scott also became friends and ended up travelling around Europe for about 3 months. He thought it was hysterical that as they were riding their motorcycles around everyone would yell “Stifler” at them. He and Williams would often swap press interviews – they were on a press tour. He would do Scott’s American Pie interviews and Williams would do his Evolution interviews.
Jones also talked about The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea that is about the magic of New Orleans. The story follows a family as they work through their problems. His character is called “Dumb-ass” – really Dumas – but he had a ball with the name!
Jones is clearly close to his family, especially his mother. Apparently, his mother is convinced that the “kid” on Everybody Hates Chris is Jones’ “love-child” and she likes to “cuss him out” for not coming clean with her and admitting he was only on the show to be close to him! This was a nice contrast to Jones’ musing on networks referring to themselves as family when they really aren’t.
Of course, that doesn’t keep him from having fun there too. On April Fool’s he posted a story on the Huffington Post saying that he was taking over Medea from Tyler Perry, leading to a huge outcry – and eventually a statement from Perry saying it wasn’t true. Clearly, most people weren’t paying attention to when the story was posted.
Eventually, the talk turned to Supernatural – a show Jones regularly live tweets. He was asked Sam or Dean and at first refused to answer. He did say he was a Destiel shipper. He said he loves Sam but Dean is kinda cute. He ended by saying Sam – but Dean is still cute…
Jones was also asked about The Haunting of Orlando Jones. The house he was staying in in Wilmington while filming Sleepy Hollow ended up having mold in it, so he had to go to a hotel. What they didn’t tell him is that the hotel is haunted. He checked in late – about 12:30 am. He was unpacking and kept seeing people running past his window. He was worried there was a fire or something and looked outside but couldn’t see anyone. Eventually, he left his suitcase open on the bed and went to have a shower. When he came out of the shower, the suitcase was closed and the door to his room was open. Something wanted him out of that room, so he listened and left! There was some chatter on the Internet about it and a psychic showed up wanting to take him back to the room to find out what happened. It turns out there was a convent right behind the hotel and the figures he kept seeing were the ghosts of men waiting outside a room for the women they’d brought there.
All in all, this was a super fun panel. Jones was clearly pumped to be there and talk to the fans. In fact, he was available to sign and just chat with fans for most of Fan Expo. If he’s at a Con that you’re going to be sure to stop by his booth and don’t miss his panel – it’s a guaranteed good time!
