Jordan Peele facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jordan Peele
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Peele in 2014
|
|
| Born |
Jordan Haworth Peele
February 21, 1979 New York City, U.S.
|
| Education | Sarah Lawrence College |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2002–present |
|
Works
|
Full list |
| Spouse(s) |
Chelsea Peretti
(m. 2016) |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Full list |
Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is a super talented American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He's famous for his amazing work in both funny comedies and scary horror movies. He's won lots of big awards, like an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) and a Primetime Emmy Award. Jordan started out doing funny sketch comedy shows. Later, he began writing and directing scary movies that also had funny parts. In 2017, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Jordan Peele's big break came in 2003 when he joined the cast of the TV show Mad TV. He was on the show for five seasons until 2008. After that, he teamed up with his friend and Mad TV co-star, Keegan-Michael Key. Together, they created and starred in their own hilarious Comedy Central sketch comedy series called Key & Peele (2012–2015). This show was a huge hit! It won two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. Jordan and Keegan-Michael also wrote, produced, and starred in the comedy movie Keanu in 2016.
In 2017, Jordan Peele directed his first movie, the horror film Get Out. It was a massive success with both critics and audiences. For Get Out, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for producing Spike Lee's movie BlacKkKlansman (2018). Jordan also directed, wrote, and produced the popular films Us (2019) and Nope (2022). Many critics now say that Us, Nope, and especially Get Out are some of the best movies of the 21st century.
Jordan Peele started his own film and TV production company, Monkeypaw Productions, in 2012. He wrote and produced Candyman (2021) and Wendell and Wild (2022), where he also did a voice. He has also lent his voice to animated movies like Storks (2016), Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), and Toy Story 4 (2019). He also voices characters in the animated TV show Big Mouth. Jordan co-created the TV shows The Last O.G. (2018–2022) and Weird City (2019). He was also the host and producer of the new version of the classic show The Twilight Zone (2019–2020).
Contents
Early Life and Education
Jordan Haworth Peele was born in New York City on February 21, 1979. His mother, Lucinda Williams, is white and from Maryland. His father, Hayward Peele Jr., was African American and from North Carolina. Jordan was raised by his single mother on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He last saw his father when he was seven years old.
Jordan loved movies from a very young age. By the time he was 12, he knew he wanted to be a film director. He has said that movies like Glory, Edward Scissorhands, Thelma & Louise, and Aliens really inspired him.
He went to the Computer School in Manhattan. He then graduated from The Calhoun School in 1997 after getting a scholarship. After high school, he studied theater at Sarah Lawrence College. He left college after two years to start a comedy group with his classmate, Rebecca Drysdale.
Comedy and TV Career (2002–2016)
Jordan Peele often performed at comedy clubs like Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and The Second City in Chicago. There, he trained with Keegan-Michael Key. In 2002, he hosted MTV's Comedy Weekend.
Joining Mad TV
In 2003, Jordan joined the cast of Mad TV for its ninth season. Keegan-Michael Key also joined the cast around the same time. People thought only one of them would be chosen, but they both got cast because they had amazing comedic chemistry. Jordan was great at impersonating celebrities like Big Bird from Sesame Street, Ja Rule, and Morgan Freeman. He was on Mad TV for five seasons.
In 2008, Jordan was nominated for an Emmy Award for his song "Sad Fitty Cent." This was a funny music video parody about the rapper 50 Cent. In 2009, Jordan appeared in the movie Little Fockers. He also appeared in a popular online video called "Hillary vs Obama."
Jordan even auditioned for Saturday Night Live to play Barack Obama. This was during a time when many TV shows were paused due to a writers' strike.
Key & Peele and Other Shows
In 2010, Jordan co-starred in a comedy TV pilot called The Station. He also had a recurring role in the show Childrens Hospital. In 2012, he had a supporting role in the comedy movie Wanderlust.
From 2012 to 2015, Jordan and Keegan-Michael Key starred in their own Comedy Central sketch series called Key & Peele. The show was very popular and created many hilarious skits that became viral online.
In 2014, Jordan played an FBI agent in the first season of the TV series Fargo. In 2016, Jordan and Keegan-Michael Key starred in and produced their first movie together, Keanu. The movie got good reviews from critics.
Filmmaking Career (2017–Present)
Directorial Debut: Get Out
In February 2017, Jordan Peele's first movie as a director, Get Out, was released. It was a huge success! The movie received amazing reviews for Jordan's writing and directing, and for the acting of its star, Daniel Kaluuya. Many groups and magazines, like the National Board of Review and Time, named it one of the top 10 films of the year.
Get Out was also very popular with audiences. It made over $255 million worldwide on a small budget of $4.5 million. For his work on the film, Jordan received many awards. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, becoming the first African-American screenwriter to win in this category. He was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. This made him one of only a few people to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for their very first movie.
More Acclaimed Films
.jpg)
In early 2018, Jordan Peele said he planned to stop acting. He explained that directing was much more fun for him than acting. In 2018, he co-created the TV comedy series The Last O.G.. Also in 2018, Jordan co-produced the Spike Lee film BlacKkKlansman. This movie was also a critical and box office success. It received six nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture for Jordan.
In 2019, Jordan Peele's second film as director, Us, was released. It was a horror-thriller that he also wrote and produced. The movie starred Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke. Jordan also developed and narrates the science fiction TV series The Twilight Zone, which is a new version of the classic show.
In 2020, Jordan produced a 10-episode series called Hunters about hunting down Nazis. He also produced the HBO series Lovecraft Country.
Jordan Peele co-produced and co-wrote the 2021 sequel to the horror film Candyman. The original Candyman star, Tony Todd, said he was happy Jordan was involved because he would be thoughtful about the movie's themes. The new Candyman was released in August 2021 and received positive reviews.
Jordan's next film, Nope, was released on July 22, 2022. He also co-wrote and produced the stop-motion animated film Wendell & Wild, which was released on Netflix in 2022. He also voiced a main character in this film.
Other Exciting Projects
There have been talks about making more movies based on Jordan Peele's Key & Peele sketch comedy series. He has also expressed interest in making a film about his Key & Peele character Wendell Sanders.
In 2020, Jordan Peele and his company signed on to produce a remake of the 1991 horror film The People Under the Stairs. In 2023, at the Game Awards, Jordan announced he would be working with famous game designer Hideo Kojima on his next video game, OD.
Jordan Peele's next movie as a director is planned to be released in October 2026.
Influences
Jordan Peele has shared some of the movies and people that have inspired his work.
Filmmaking Inspirations
In 2017, Jordan Peele put together a film series called "The Art of the Social Thriller." This series included 12 films that helped inspire Get Out. These films included horror movies like Rosemary's Baby, Night of the Living Dead, The Shining, and Candyman. It also included thrillers like Rear Window and the comedy-drama Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
As a filmmaker, Jordan Peele has said he is influenced by famous directors like Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and John Carpenter.
Comedy Inspirations
As a comedian, Jordan Peele has mentioned that shows like In Living Color and comedians like Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle have influenced him. He also considers Steve Martin and Martin Lawrence to be two of his biggest influences.
Personal Life
Jordan Peele started dating actress Chelsea Peretti in 2013. They got engaged in November 2015 and secretly got married in April 2016. They have one son, who was born in 2017.
Filmography
As filmmaker
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Distribution | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Keanu | No | Yes | Yes | Warner Bros. Pictures | Also acted in a starring role |
| 2017 | Get Out | Yes | Yes | Yes | Universal Pictures | Also made a cameo (voice) appearance |
| 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | No | No | Yes | Focus Features | |
| 2019 | Us | Yes | Yes | Yes | Universal Pictures | Also made a cameo (voice) appearance |
| 2021 | Candyman | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2022 | Nope | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Wendell & Wild | No | Yes | Yes | Netflix | Also voiced a leading role | |
| 2024 | Monkey Man | No | No | Yes | Universal Pictures |
Awards and Nominations
Jordan Peele has been nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Get Out (2017), winning the latter. He also received another Best Picture nomination for BlacKkKlansman (2018). He has also been nominated for two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and won one Primetime Emmy Award.
Images for kids
-
Peele in 2014
-
Peele performing in 2012
-
Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key during a 2014 interview for Key & Peele
See also
In Spanish: Jordan Peele para niños
