Jay Ellis Says Biggest Challenge After Welcoming Son Noah is Keeping Daughter Nora from Him: ‘She Smothers Him With Love’
The actor’s book Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)? Adventures in Boyhood is out now
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00:00Now it's the sit down with Jay Ellis.
00:02Hi Jay.
00:03We have so much to talk about today.
00:05I just saw you in Times Square
00:06giving out copies of your book.
00:08I love how you're out there in full promo mode.
00:11What perspective did you want to share with this book?
00:13This book to me is a love letter to the nineties
00:17to the village that raised me
00:20and to all the cities I was raised in.
00:22And it's also just this ode to imagination
00:25and how powerful it is.
00:27And we all have it and we lose it along the way.
00:29Life gets serious, you grow up and you're busy
00:31and you're successful and you've got kids
00:33and you're stressed, all these things.
00:36But like there's this amazing thing that we have
00:39that kind of, that lives inside of us
00:40that just gives us a sense of play and a sense of joy
00:43and is a stress reliever and a way to engage with folks.
00:47And to me, going through the journey of writing this book
00:50and telling this story of this little boy
00:52with an overactive imagination to coming of age
00:56and growing up and going through some kind of
00:57more serious things.
00:59I hope that I answered that question with this book
01:01for people of why it's important to have imagination.
01:05You've had some big life changes this year.
01:08Congrats on baby Noah.
01:09I know we spoke a while ago and you said you were prepared
01:12for the chaos of living with two kiddos
01:14but how is it now living in it?
01:16You know, at this age, just a lot of sleeping
01:18and feeding and sleeping and feeding.
01:20And so he, you know, he hasn't really fully realized
01:23the potential, the power of his voice yet.
01:26I'm sure that's coming very soon.
01:28The funniest thing really has been trying
01:29to keep my daughter away from him
01:30because she's just so in love with him.
01:32She smothers him with love.
01:34Now I know Nora's only four
01:36but does she know that her dad is famous?
01:38Nora does not know that.
01:40Nora, she keeps asking me what my job is.
01:43What do you say?
01:44I just, usually I just say I go to work
01:46or I, or daddy tells stories.
01:48And one day she said, daddy, are you an actor?
01:52I was like, what, where did you get that from?
01:54One of the kids at school told her I was an actor.
01:58She knows that I am an actor.
01:59She does not necessarily know what an actor is
02:01because she's still, she's at that age
02:02where she still believes that everybody on television
02:04is actually in the television.
02:06So we're gonna keep her there for a while
02:09and let her enjoy that and let her play in it.
02:12Excuse me, miss.
02:14You look like you need saving.
02:16We are huge Insecure fans at People Mad.
02:19Now I know y'all still have your text chains.
02:21There's the men's Secure chain
02:22and one with the ladies as well.
02:24How would you describe the vibe when y'all get together?
02:26It's definitely, it's definitely good vibes.
02:28It's a lot of jokes.
02:31It's us really just catching up on life
02:33and like what we've been up to and what we've been doing.
02:35Cause we see each other, you know, on social media
02:37we see what each other are doing
02:39and we're constantly commenting.
02:40And our men's Secure group chat,
02:42literally there's a text message in it every single day.
02:45There's not a day that there's not a text message in it
02:48and multiple cause somebody always comments
02:50or, you know, likes it or whatever.
02:51But I think we're always just catching up
02:53and seeing how we're actually doing
02:55and checking in with each other
02:56because we know each other in such a different way.
02:58Lawrence, would you take Eason back?
03:01Hell no.
03:02But it's a lot of jokes.
03:03It's a lot of fun.
03:05It's a lot of remember that time.
03:08It feels like you're with your brothers and sisters
03:10at a family reunion.
03:12It's special.
03:14Glenn Powell recently said that he's got a date
03:16for Top Gun 3.
03:17Big news.
03:18What about you?
03:19Do you have an update?
03:20Fingers crossed.
03:22I have the same updates that GP has
03:25cause we're all on a text chain too.
03:27What do you make of Glenn going so viral this year
03:30for his thirst traps and his dog brisket?
03:32As his friend, do you razz him a little bit for it?
03:35Always give him a hard time.
03:36I always give him a hard time.
03:38I'm like, bro, nobody needs to see your shoulder.
03:40You know, you're going to have your hip
03:41to have your shoulder out
03:42with the dog hanging on your chest.
03:44It's too much, Glenn.
03:45It's too much.
03:47No, I give him a hard time about it all the time though.
03:49He loves it.
03:51He's good for taking a joke
03:54and poking fun at himself
03:56and how serious he can be at times.
03:59And that's what I love about him
04:00and why I'm so excited for everything
04:02that's going on for him.
04:03But we all kind of make fun of him.
04:04We usually send screenshots in the group chat
04:06making fun of him and we just comment
04:08over and over and over again.
04:10Is it Glenn that keeps you in check?
04:12I mean, they all do to be quite honest with you.
04:15In very different ways.
04:17Their approach is very smart.
04:19It's a very, very real, well-rounded approach
04:23because they all come from completely different directions.
04:25So they definitely tell me when I need to pull back.
04:29We're going to put 10 seconds on the clock.
04:30Promote any one of your projects.
04:32Ready? Go.
04:34Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend or Just Me
04:36is out in stores right now.
04:37It's a book about joy, childhood, fun.
04:39Check it out.
04:41Jay, thank you so much for being here today.
04:43Thank you. I appreciate you.