Biography - Jay Ellis

Who is Jay Ellis?

Jay Ellis is an actor by profession and American by nationality. He is well known for starring in the series The Game, Insecure, and in the films Escape Room, and Top Gun: Maverick.

Jay Ellis – Age, Parents, Siblings

Jay Ellis was born on December 27, 1981, in Sumter, South Carolina, USA. His full name is Wendell Ramone Ellis Jr. His mother Paula Ellis worked as a finance executive and his father Wendell Ellis Sr. worked for the Air Force. He is the only child of his parents and has no siblings.

Education, Ethnicity

Growing up Jay Ellis’s family moved around a lot. In thirteen years he went to 12 schools. He went to high school with actor Josh Henderson. Ellis went on to study at Concordia University on a basketball scholarship where he played basketball.

His ethnicity is African-American.

Jay Ellis – Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Divorce

Ellis has been dating Serbian model and actress Nina Seničar since 2015. He and his girlfriend welcomed their daughter Nora Grace Ellis on November 8, 2019. They eventually married on July 9, 2022. 

Also, there are no rumors of divorce surrounding Jay Ellis and his wife.

Jay Ellis – Career

Early Days

After college, he worked briefly as a public relations intern for the Portland Trail Blazers. After completing his internship, he transitioned to modeling for sportswear companies including  Nike, Adidas, Columbia Sportswear, etc. Jay Ellis eventually went on to pursue a career as an actor.

Ellis’s early roles were in the short films Triple Standard (2010), Hatched: A Tale of Great Egg-spectations (2011), Election Eve (2012), and in the episode(s) of the TV series Related (2005), The Bold and the Beautiful (2010), Grey's Anatomy (2011), How I Met Your Mother (2012), iCarly (2012).

Finally, he landed his breakthrough role as Bryce "Blueprint" Westbrook in the comedy-drama series The Game. He portrayed the character for a total of 45 episodes from 2013 to 2015.

Films, TV Series

Over the years Jay Ellis has appeared in the films Breaking Through (2015), In a Relationship (2018), Escape Room (2019), Top Gun: Maverick (2020), and Black Box. He also had guest appearances in the TV series NCIS: Los Angeles (2013), Masters of Sex (2014), and Mrs. America (2020). Ellis played the main character Martin “Lawrence” Walker from 2016 to 2020 in the series Insecure.

Co-stars

On the set of Top Gun: Maverick, Jay Ellis has worked alongside Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Manuel Jacinto, Danny Ramirez, and Charles Parnell.

Jay Ellis – Awards Nominations

In 2018 Ellis was awarded an NAACP Image Award- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He has also been nominated for Golden Raspberry Awards (2014) and Black Reel Awards for Television (2017).

Jay Ellis – Net Worth, Salary

The net worth of Ellis is estimated to be around $3 million. The figure on his annual salary is under review.

Jay Ellis – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On social media sites including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, Jay Ellis is followed by thousands of followers.