Jimmy Jean-Louis has spent nearly three decades building a career that defies geography. The Haitian-born actor, best known internationally for playing “The Haitian” in NBC’s Heroes, has worked across Hollywood, Europe and, increasingly, Nollywood.
Long before international collaborations in African cinema became fashionable, Jean-Louis had already established himself within the industry. He won Best Actor at the 2020 Africa Movie Academy Awards for his performance in Desrances and has steadily built relationships across African filmmaking spaces over the last two decades.
Jean-Louis speaks with the ease of someone who has navigated multiple cultures, languages and industries. Fluent in five languages, he has worked in France, England, Indonesia, Cuba, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico. But when the conversation turns to Nollywood, his tone shifts from observation to investment.
This is not the curiosity of a visitor. It is the perspective of someone who has deliberately embedded himself within the industry.
Jean-Louis’ relationship with Nollywood predates many of the films audiences now associate him with. In 2006, he visited Nigeria while promoting the Hollywood film Phat Girlz. By 2008, he had appeared in his first Nollywood production, Relentless, alongside Gideon Okeke. Years later, he would co-produce and co-direct Jimmy Goes to Nollywood (2015), a documentary exploring the industry’s growth and global potential.
What changed from observing Nollywood to actively participating in its storytelling? According to Jean-Louis, not much.
“Nothing,” he tells The Nollywood Reporter (TNR), almost matter-of-factly. For him, the transition felt natural because he never fully considered himself an outsider. “I think my grandparents were actually from here,” he says of his connection to Africa. “There is a natural connection that's here.”
In The Fire and the Moth (2025), Jean-Louis plays Contractor, a foreign enforcer linked to the trafficking of African artefacts. Directed by Taiwo Egunjobi and set against the backdrop of western Nigeria, the thriller follows a smuggler who comes into possession of a valuable Ife bronze head.
For Jean-Louis, the film extends beyond entertainment. “It is definitely through the thriller work, because you're there to entertain. But also to send a message,” he says. “I think there is some accuracy in the fact that a lot of these artefacts have been stolen from African countries, whether it's Britain mainly, but also from France and Belgium.”
He believes the film succeeds in balancing commentary with entertainment. “It serves both purposes,” he says. “I'm very happy with the outcome of the movie because I thought it was well executed. The pace of it was very different from what Nollywood movies are used to, and it was very well received as well.”
The film premiered on Amazon Prime Video in May 2025, and Jean-Louis says the international reception has been encouraging. “Some of the people who have seen it, whether it's from America, France or England, have all had great things to say about it.”
Does his international profile make it easier for him to secure roles in Nollywood over equally talented Nigerian actors? Jean-Louis approaches the question carefully.
“I think it all comes down to what the director wants and what the film requires,” he says. “I've been in the business for almost 30 years, so I tend to think that my appearance in some of those movies can bring wider visibility to the movie.”
He acknowledges the practical advantage of recognisability but avoids equating visibility with superiority. “Does that make me a better actor than a Nollywood actor? No, that's debatable,” he says. “An actor is an actor, and it's very difficult to judge an actor. But one thing that we cannot disregard is the credits and the longevity and what the talent brings to the table.”
The exchange, he argues, works both ways. Nigerian actors have also expanded into international productions, bringing their own visibility and audience with them.
Having worked across Hollywood, Europe and Nollywood, where does he see the biggest disconnect within the Nigerian industry? For Jean-Louis, the answer goes beyond budgets.
“Infrastructure needs to be in place where everybody can thrive, from the producers to the actors, to agents and managers, and also technicians: sound, makeup,” he says. “All those people who are working very hard but sometimes at the end don't get the reward that they deserve.”
But his biggest concern remains distribution. Jean-Louis argues that while streaming platforms expanded global access to Nollywood films, they also disrupted local systems that previously kept revenue circulating within the Nigerian economy.
“When I first started in Nigeria, I think distribution was better than what it is now,” he says. “Even though it was infected by piracy, a lot of those producers were able to at least sell the movies to make some money back.”
He points to the decline of local distribution structures following the arrival of global streamers. “The business was disrupted because they came and offered maybe a bigger return to single producers, but the mass and the majority suffered because they didn't get the deal that the handful of people got,” he says.
Now, he believes Nollywood is entering another rebuilding phase. “Each filmmaker is trying to find the proper way to do that,” he says. “Cinemas are still relevant. More theatres have been built, but I think more still need to be built. At the same time, we need to find ways to cut deals that can be profitable for both sides.”
The conversation eventually turns toward authorship and the long history of outsiders shaping African narratives. Jean-Louis believes the solution begins with ownership.
“The only way you can fight that kind of situation is by producing your own movies,” he says. “Tell your own stories. Don't let people tell your stories because they're going to tell it from their point of view, and it would never be beneficial to you.”
For him, storytelling is deeply tied to identity. “We have to be able to understand who we are and grab hold of our identities and not necessarily try to be like the West,” he says. “And with that comes the doing, and the doing can also be in telling our own stories the way we want to tell them.”
He sees cinema as both entertainment and education. “Movies, as much as they are there to entertain, are very much there to educate as well,” he says. “So we have to pick our subject matters carefully. Tell stories that matter, that we'll be proud of, that will serve the purpose of the next generations to come.”
In The Creek, Jean-Louis enters the politically charged world of the Niger Delta, portraying a character shaped by the region’s violence and environmental destruction. The experience, he says, felt unusually close to reality.
“Being deep into the Niger Delta, as you're making the movie, you also see scenes of reality around you,” he says. “It was vivid. It was almost like making a movie within a movie.”
The realities of filming in the region were impossible to ignore. “We were shooting in places where people are still active,” he says, referencing security concerns in parts of the Delta.
Director Toka McBaror, he adds, brought precision to the production. “He knew exactly what he wanted. It makes it wonderful for an actor to know that you're being led by someone who knows exactly what he wants in a very artistic way.”
Jean-Louis laughs when the conversation shifts briefly to his experience living in the region during production. “I caught the famous diarrhoea of the Niger Delta pretty much for the whole time,” he says. “Usually, I spend time in Nigeria all the time, but this was my first time in a region that was so full of bushes and water.”
Still, the environmental and economic realities of the region stayed with him. “Nigeria is way too rich,” he says. “The soil of Nigeria is way too rich not to be one of the top countries in the world.”
Even after decades in the industry, Jean-Louis says he still welcomes creative challenges. “As an actor, you're always challenged creatively,” he says. “I think it's a good thing to always have an element of doubt in what you're doing because it helps you get better.”
He acknowledges the expectations that come with his international background but sees collaboration as essential to the work. “I try to share simple tricks that I have picked up from different industries around the world,” he says. “Sometimes those tricks are accepted, and sometimes they're not. And it's okay, because it's a process.”
Jean-Louis gently pushes back against the idea that he is only now entering a global Nollywood. He has been part of the industry’s expansion for years.
“I've been in Nollywood for a long time,” he says. “I've seen the growth. I've always tried to serve as a bridge between Nollywood and other industries.”
How would he explain Nollywood to someone unfamiliar with it? Jean-Louis describes it as an industry still growing into its global influence.
“We have extremely talented people behind that industry. We have great stories to tell,” he says. “I think Nollywood will become more and more relevant moving forward because it's one part of the world that has not been fully understood when it comes to storytelling.”
He credits both local talent and international collaborations for helping reshape the industry over the last decade. “Filmmakers are brilliant now,” he says. “You have local filmmakers who studied abroad and came back. You have collaborations with cinematographers and creatives from different industries. That gives you extremely talented people who are waiting for the industry to be properly structured so they can really thrive.”
For audiences outside Africa, his message is simple: pay attention.
“Continue to tell your stories in the best possible ways,” he says, “and people will come to you.”
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