Biography
With almost a dozen movie credits in the last five years, ORLANDO JONES is easily one of the industry’s busiest talents. The South Carolina native, who made his feature film acting debut in Barry Levinson’s acclaimed drama Liberty Heights, most recently starred opposite Laurence Fishburne in DreamWorks Pictures’ Biker Boyz, directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood. Jones also captured the screen in Charles Stone’s Drumline as the stern and disciplined band director at a Southern university who pushes a cocky, young street drummer from Harlem (Nick Cannon) to realize his potential. He appeared opposite Guy Pearce in The Time Machine, and as geology professor Harry Block in Ivan Reitman’s Evolution with David Duchovny and Julianne Moore.
Additionally, Jones has starred in such films as the football comedy The Replacements with Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves, the Harold Ramis-directed Bedazzled, Say It Isn’t So with Heather Graham, Chris Klein, and Sally Field, and the caper comedy Double Take opposite Eddie Griffin. His scene-stealing performances in the sleeper hit Office Space woke up national audiences to the comedic talent that he brings to the screen, but it would soon become clear that the laughter this young talent evokes is only scratching the surface of his repertoire.
Jones will next be seen opposite Robin Williams and Tea Leoni in the upcoming House of D for director David Duchovny and Lion’s Gate Entertainment.
Jones got his start in the entertainment business as a writer on NBC’s “A Different World.” From there, he went on to produce and write for Fox Broadcasting Company’s “Roc Live” and “Sinbad”; and not long after, Jones made the inevitable jump to the other side of the camera as part of the original cast on the Fox sketch comedy series, “Mad TV” in which he spent two seasons.
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