Leslie Jones Took The Long Road And Made It Loudly Her Own
Comedian master Leslie Jones sits for a brand-sparkling-new episode of The Drink with Kate Snow—and naturally, the conversation is funny, fearless and nowhere near a straight line.
Over Jones’ favorite drink—ginger ale with a splash of grapefruit juice and lime—the pair trace the long, wildly unplanned road that carried her from a military childhood and college basketball to stand-up comedy, Saturday Night Live and a career built by refusing to wait quietly for anybody’s permission.
THE DRINK
Leslie Jones Did Not Take The Easy Route
Watch more from NBC News’ interview series, then revisit Leslie Jones’ comedy, memoir and television work.
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Success Was Never A Straight Line, And Leslie Likes It That Way
Jones’ story does not arrive with one neat breakthrough moment tied in a motivational bow. She talks about moving through childhood with a military father, playing college basketball and essentially stumbling into comedy before realizing the stage was where her size, volume and point of view could stop being treated as too much.
That “long path” is the point. Jones did not inherit a perfectly mapped route through entertainment. She kept moving, collecting material, finding rooms that could handle her and creating the kind of success nobody could later claim they had simply handed over.
The funniest reveal may also be one of the most revealing: Jones says she almost never went to her Saturday Night Live audition. Imagine being one stubborn decision away from a completely different timeline. Thankfully, she went—and television got louder, stranger and much more alive.
She Turned Being Too Much Into The Entire Selling Point
There has always been something delicious about watching Jones refuse the usual pressure to shrink herself into a more “manageable” package. Her laugh is huge. Her reactions are huge. Her presence takes up the room before she has even decided whether the room deserves her.
That is not lack of control; that is command. Jones learned how to turn everything other people might have tried to edit out of her into the very reason audiences remember her.
Roast My Rental Is Her Latest Excuse To Tell The Truth
Jones also talks about what comes next, including her new HGTV series Roast My Rental. The concept sounds almost suspiciously tailored to her gifts: walk into somebody’s questionable living space, identify exactly what has gone wrong and say it with enough force that everyone finally listens.
That project fits the career Jones describes throughout the interview. She creates momentum by showing up fully, telling the truth loudly and turning every unexpected detour into fresh material.
The road may have been long, but Leslie Jones made sure nobody could confuse it with anybody else’s.
Watch Leslie Jones Join Kate Snow On The Drink
In the full NBC News conversation, Jones discusses her military childhood, college basketball, accidentally entering comedy, nearly skipping her SNL audition and the success she built by taking the long route.
Source: NBC News.
