Jazzy Ellis | Redefining Limits and Promoting Safety - Mick Unplugged [EP 9]

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Here's Mick.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting podcast.

Today we're going to explore the stories of those who redefine the impossible. And we are joined with a force of nature in film and television. A master of action and an advocate for change.

She's taken leaps in a lot of.

Your favorite action movies, and she's a champion for safety and inclusivity on the set.

Let's welcome the unstoppable, the incomparable SAG Award winning and intimacy coordinator, Ms. Jazzy Ellis.

Jazzy, welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Thank you. Wow, that was such a great intro. I feel really good about myself. How about that?

As you should. You know, Jazzy, your story is amazing. You know, I've gotten to know you over the last few months and it's just amazing, like, watching and hearing about your journey. I'd love for you to tell people because on the Make Unplugged podcast, we like to go deeper than the superficial why.

Right?

Like, everyone kind of knows their why, but we're really pushed by that because by that reason. And in your bio, you talk about stories of triumph over adversity to inspire others. What's your personal. Because that fuels you and your drive.

There's a few of them. The one that's kind of through line is listening to myself, figuring out what it is that my calling is bringing me to and then going forward. So that's two things. It could be, this feels really good. I want more of this. Or it could be, this feels really bad. I want to make sure this doesn't happen for myself or for other people. And so in terms of my career as a stunt Performer as an intimacy coordinator, that for me is safety first. Like, this feels really good, really safe. How can I make sure that I can have this safety for myself and that safety for everyone that I work with as well?

I love it. I love it. And I know people are sitting there.

Hearing this, and they have no idea.

What an intimacy coordinator does on set.

Right. Can you walk people through what it.

Is that you do? Obviously, I know, but then why that is so valuable on the set?

So an intimacy coordinator, they're the folks who keep the actors safe for their intimate scenes on. On film and tv. So when it to simulated sex scenes or kissing or intimate touching or even, like, vulnerable scenes, that may not include anything sexual, but they may need support in terms of mental health, based on the topic of the content that's being recorded that day, the intimacy coordinator is there to keep the actors safe, to be the liaison between the production and the actors, and to help with the choreography of the moment. It's important to have an intimacy on set for these really vulnerable moments because we're coming out of the MeToo movement where an actor's training and, yes, was taken advantage of. And with the use of an intimacy coordinator, we're there to make sure that your boundaries stay. Your boundaries, your boundaries are upheld. And we're there to make sure that the directors or anyone who has power on that film set doesn't have the power over you. You maintain your bodily autonomy.

That's awesome and amazing. And, you know you're a certified mental health provider, first aid provider.

Right?

Like, walk us through that.

Because I'm all about mental health, and, you know, I do a lot of speaking around mental health. Have you seen that change? Because, you know, it went from something where you were vulnerable if you talked about mental health right to now. People should be proud, and people should take moments of their life and their day to focus on their mental health.

Exactly. So I am certified in mental health first aid. This certification helps me to be the first person on the scene for any kind of mental health cris crisis. And this can be a stranger when I'm walking down the street. Or this could be when I'm on set and I notice that one of the performers is going through a crisis in the moment as they're shooting the scene.

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And the importance of this is just that you have people who can guide you to the place that will help you in your mental health journey. Many of us aren't trained in crises, and we aren't trained to see what exactly a crisis is. And we're the first people on the scene to make sure that you're getting exactly the care that you need.

Awesome. And you know, you mentioned this earlier, but you're in an industry where safety and equity have been a long standing concern, right? And you work really hard to make those practices go away. Or at least you do your part to help alleviate those practices. Was there a pivotal moment or a challenge that you said, this is what I need to do, not that I want to do, but I need to.

Do this in terms of intimacy coordinating, there were a few moments and this was before the position existed as an intimacy coordinator. I was in a few intimate scenes myself and my boundaries were pushed. And it's not like I was sexually assaulted on set, but I was pushed beyond what I had originally planned to do that day and I left feeling that I was taken advantage of. And in my journey to become an intimacy coordinator, my goal is that that never happens for any other performer.

That's amazing and I applaud you and salute you for that, because I'm not an actor and I'm not in that industry. But we all have heard horror stories, right? Like, we all have heard those stories. So I applaud you for being bold. Being bold in that. So salute to. To Jazzy for that. So let's talk about before. You were doing the stunt work. For those that don't know, Jazzy was a public school teacher and a researcher in the Amazon jungle. What was that like? Like, why the Amazon? And what were some of the cool things that you did out there?

My journey in the Amazon was another pivotal moment in my life. I was at the time, a student at Prince, and to graduate from Princeton, we have to write a senior thesis. Most of the students who graduate from Princeton have written their thesis based on library books. I couldn't see myself being stuck in Firestone Library. And they gave us each our own room in the library. But it was about 4ft by 6ft, and it was completely dark. Like, no windows, just the lights that blink on and on, like the motion detector lights. I just kept myself in that room for an entire year. And I asked my professors, what are my other options? And they said, well, you can do whatever you want. Just make a proposal and we'll see what can happen. And so my proposal included going and living in the Amazon and learning indigenous healing practices from shamans. And I sent my proposal to the department. They said, well, Jaz, your research looks really anthropological, and we don't have professors in this department to help you, but let us think about it and we'll get right back to you. They hired a completely new professor for our department to be my advisor, and they funded my research. So I went and lived in the middle of the Amazon. Like, I hunted and fished for my own food for three months. I had nothing but my backpack and what could fit in it. It was an amazing experience, and it changed the trajectory of my life because I learned I have a thirst for adventure, and it made me more courageous in my career journey.

So let's transition to that, right? That thirst for adventure. What made you go into stunt performing?

So upon graduating from college, I graduated during the recession. I couldn't find work that really fed my soul, but I knew that I wanted to help people. And in my journey of helping people, I became a public school teacher. So I taught special education and math. But I was working 120 hours a week, and I burnt out real fast. So I asked my school that I worked at, can I just have a few hours to myself? Maybe two hours where I can just leave school and reset, come back, be ready to work. And they said yes. So I took those two hours and I used it for martial arts training. And when I was there, right, when I was there in the martial arts classes, there were actually stunt performers there. And they told me that there were no black female stunt performers in Louisiana and they could train me to be that. And so I took them up on that offer and three months later, I was a full time stunt woman.

That's insane. That's awesome. So, you know, I purposely haven't told the listeners yet. Why don't you give us some of the, some of the movies that you've been in from a stunt perspective?

Sure. I've been Avengers, Infinity War and Endgame, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Walking Dead, Lovecraft country, the Suicide Squad, lots of fun shows.

So what goes into this?

I know you're very adventurous, right? I'm not going to say you're crazy, but you're adventurous, right? Like walk me through. How do you prep yourself knowing that you're the stunt double?

Right?

You're the stunt performer. How do you prepare for that mentally, each day?

Well, I have yoga training, so that keeps me centered, grounded, and knowing who I am and what I'm capable of every day with meditations and the different poses and the different breath work practices that I do, that reminds me of who I am. And now knowing who I am, that shows, okay, can I do this stunt or not? All of honesty that you go into the job with is the level of safety that you're going into as well. So going into a stunt job, I'm not scared. I'm excited because I know that these are skills that I practiced and I know as long as I check over the rig that they're putting me through, because there's stunt riggers who are there who are putting the wires in such a way that I become a puppet. So as long as I check over their work and I know my own abilities, the work's going to be done really great that day.

That's awesome. So what are some things that we don't see when we watch a movie that you actually go through? What are some things that the camera plays tricks on the average person's eyes?

So we have something that I do a lot called the Texas Cowboy Switch, or sometimes called the Texas Switch or the Cowboy Switch. And it's when the camera stays running, but the actor does their work first and then off camera switches with the stunt performer and then the stunt performer goes in does the action and then they switch again. You would never see that. You never see the stunt performer's face, but it's the stunt performer doing the action, even though it looks like the actor never stopped. So that's a really cool thing that we do. And I've done it in terms of stunt driving and I've done it in terms of stunt fighting.

Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. So what advice would Jazzy have for aspiring stunt performers?

Never stop training. Even if you are already working, find a new skill to learn, find old skills to continue training and just never stop training.

Okay, okay. That's good stuff. That's good stuff. What's the craziest stunt you've had to pull off?

Crazy for me or crazy for other people?

I'm going to say crazy for Jazzy. Because if it's crazy for other people, I mean, if it's crazy for Jazzy, it's totally crazy for other people.

Right? Okay. So I do love working with fire. I do. Fire burns. But for this stunt, I'm going to mention I had to rely a lot on my fellow stunt performers. And so for this stunt, it was on Tyler Perry Studios for the TV show the Haves and the have Nots. I was trapped upside down in a burning car. It was a real car, it was real fire and I was literally trapped upside down in it. And I had to rely on the stuntman to pull me out of it. And he did. And I didn't catch fire. Luckily, my costume for the day was flame retardant. And also I didn't cut myself on glass because the glass on the window of the car was also broken. But when the stuntman put me down on the ground, before he walked away, he said, jaz, I'm so sorry. And I whispered, because the camera was still rolling, and I whispered, why? What happened? And he says, jazz, I put you in a fire ant hill. So I missed the fire, but I got the fire ant. And that's a little bit like the crazy things that happen on sets.

I can believe it. I can totally believe it. I can totally believe it. So let's talk about the future a little bit. Right? So you have over a decade long experience in both stunt performing and as an intimacy coordinator. How do you see this evolving? How do you see those roles evolving in the film and television industry?

My goal is to be a part of a BIPOC owned production company and to be the lead intimacy coordinator on that production company. Not sure when or how that will happen, but I'M putting that into the atmosphere and someone's going to find me and work with me.

Okay, I like it. I like it. So let's go back to you personally now. And not to get too personal, but you have overcome things. You are one of the strongest people that I know and that I follow. What advice would you give to the listeners on how they can overcome their challenges that they're going through on a daily, weekly, monthly basis?

It's a shift of mindset for me, and my struggles felt more difficult when I was younger and when I felt like I didn't deserve to go through struggles. But now I feel like if you're not going through struggles, you're not aiming high enough. You're not, your goals aren't big enough. Because for me, when I make a mistake, that's a step towards success. When I fail, that's a step towards success. Because that failure is a way that I know. Okay, don't do it like that anymore.

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You know what not to do, or one example of what not to do. Now let's go towards what you need to do. So a change of mindset, knowing that you're going to fail, and if you want to succeed, try to fail more often.

Oh, that was deep. Say that one more time.

If you want to succeed, try to fail more often.

That might be one of the deepest quotes and I'm going to give you credit because I'm probably going to post this on Social at some point over the next couple of weeks. I'm giving you credit. That might be one of the deepest comments that I've heard. And when you say that, when you think through that, what does that mean for you?

That means, like, I want to have a collection of mistakes that I can help other people not make. To bring us all closer to the end goal, right?

Because so many times people try to be perfect, right? Or they try to be this, oh.

Gosh, that's so boring.

First off, right? They try to do these things, and it's just like, you know, you're not being yourself. You're trying to either do what someone wants you to do or be what someone wants you to be. And when you do that, you never reflect on who you are or go through the challenges that we naturally should go through. Like, I don't know any successful person, whether it's an athlete, a comedian, a business owner, I don't know any successful person that hasn't gone through stuff. And I don't mean one thing, I mean several things, right? Because that's how we learn who we are. And that's probably one of the things I admire most about you, is that you continue to evolve. You continue to figure it out, whatever the it is.

That's all we can do. Just keep trying to figure it out.

There you go. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. One, was there ever an actor or actress that you work with? And you were like, wow, can't believe I'm working with this person all the time.

Like, almost every job I feel that way. Probably the biggest, like, where I couldn't breathe, I couldn't even, like, think straight, was meeting Oprah. And so, I mean, there were two times I met Oprah. The first time was on Selma, and I think it was the third or fourth year of my career. So I was just starting out, and I remember seeing her at base camp, and I said, good morning. And she kind of glared at me a little bit, like, oops, was I not supposed to talk to her? And come to find out I wasn't. But I didn't know because there's a hierarchy on set. And, like, if the actors don't talk to you first, you're not supposed to talk to them. But now I know. And, you know, it was right before we shot the big scene on the Edmund Petus Bridge. And so that was a really emotionally difficult scene, and I should have left her alone. But the second time I met her, it was for my acting role in Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. And I played young Gladys, who in the movie was Oprah's aunt. And so when I showed up on set, she came up to me and said, good morning, and introduced herself to me. And I'm just like, oh, my God, Oprah, I know who you are. I'm Jazzy, and I was just, like, a complete spaz. But it was really nice to work on that film and to meet her in a way where she wasn't distracted.

Right. I've heard nothing but amazing, awesome, brilliant stories about Oprah. So I'm a little jealous that you've got to meet her, but.

As you should.

As you should.

Thank you.

What's the role that you haven't gotten.

To do yet, but you want to do?

I. Okay. And this doesn't exist yet, but, like, I wrote a script just in case anyone wants to buy it and, you know, put me in the role, but I wrote myself as the love child of James Bond. I wrote myself in as a love child of James Bond that he had when he was on a mission in Jamaica. And I'm playing someone that is super smart but doesn't know who she is. Like, she doesn't know who her father is, but she just has all these crazy reflexes where these strange men are coming to kidnap her, and she knows how to fight back instinctually. So I kind of just want to play a really cool action hero.

There you go. All right, so everybody listening. We can either have a couple of very successful movie writers, movie directors purchase this, or we can come together as a people and we can make this happen for Jazzy. Let's go.

Let's do it.

All right, Jazzy, I'm going to get you out of here on this one. What's the message you want to leave to the listeners into the world today? Like, what's. What's that inspirational thing you want to leave everybody with?

I'm going to draw on that quote that you're going to quote me on on socials and just say, make as many mistakes as possible. Live your life. Make as many mistakes as possible.

I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, the great, the SAG award winning Jazzy Ellis. Jazzy, thank you so much for taking some time with us today. It means the world to me to have you on the show. So if there's anything I can ever do for you, you know I'm here for you. And before that, though, where can people find you?

Yeah, I am at Jazzy Ellis on everything. So J, A, Z, Z, Y, E, L, L, I, s, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, all the things.

Everyone go follow Jazzy. I promise you'll be as inspired as I am. Every time she posts something, I read something. She's awesome. Going to leave you all with this. Remember your because is your superpower. Unleash it.

Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast and be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged. Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired, and stay Unplugged.