Biografia

A former high school teacher.

His father is African-American, with some Seminole ancestry. His mother is of Swedish descent.

Attended Temple University (B.A.) in Philadelphia, PA

Friends with Harry Belafonte.

According to Finding Your Roots, Jesse is a direct descendant of Joseph Herrick, who was the constable of Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem "Witch" Trials. He was also a direct descendant of the Swedish singer Inga Soffia, who was part of a woman's quartet that toured America in the 1870s.

Coming from New York, you're kind of indoctrinated with anti-L.A. sentiment, but California is just a really dope state.

Storytelling is based on the word, being an honorable person of integrity is based on your word.

I'm kind of in a middle space, being marketed as a biracial actor. Roles are written either stereotypically black, or they're written 'normal,' which is just code for white.

There's so much material out there that's unnecessarily racist. It takes a shot at what is 'urban' or demonstrates blackness with some sassy, neck-jiving character that's not even relevant to the plot. I see it time and time again, and it doesn't move the story forward. It just kind of cryogenically freezes us in this old racial paradigm.

We often grow up being told that we can do this or that, but if you don't see anybody that looks like you doing it, you don't believe you can do it. But I had great teachers, and I wanted to be a great teacher.