Emmy nominee Janelle James on adding depth to her Abbott Elementary character

At the end of Abbott Elementary’s second season, we called Janelle James the series’ stealth MVP. Well, over a year later, that remains the case—and it’s no wonder she earned a third consecutive Emmy nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.  

James’ sharp comedic style leads to constant laugh-out-loud moments, but don’t mistake her as a one-dimensional, non-stop joke machine. Abbott slowly but steadily evolves Principal Ava Coleman to reveal the considerate and smart person bubbling underneath all those layers of vanity. And James, in turn, revels in this character development, which has added more nuance to the ABC sitcom. 

The A.V. Club spoke to James about her leap from stand-up to an award-winning network sitcom, her favorite Ava scenes, and how Abbott Elementary lets her dig into character.   

The A.V. Club: What are you excited about discovering next for Ava? What can you tease about the upcoming season? 

Janelle James: For season four, I’m excited to see a bit of her life and relationships outside the school and her origin story. She definitely has some of that going on, and that’s all I can say. 

AVC: What expectations did you have of Ava when you started the show and how have they evolved over time?

JJ: I knew she would be a fun character to play. I expected that it would be, at the time, against type for me, which would be a fun challenge. As the show’s gone on, she’s become more me, so that’s less against type. Well, I mean, the writers know us better, and I think they try to bring a lot of our real interests and personalities. Ava got a comic book-accurate Storm costume [in season two’s Halloween episode “Candy Zombies”] because I’m a huge X-Men nerd. So things like that are cool to have gotten included. Ava’s a doomsday prepper. I’m not a prepper, but I am interested in those apocalyptic stories. We had a book-club episode in season three that Ava started at school, and the book she chose, Octavia Butler’s Parable Of The Sower, is my favorite book. Small things cross over that way, but she is still distinctive, as is her physical comedy and wardrobe. 

AVC: You’ve written for TV shows before like The Rundown With Robin Thede and Black Monday. Is that something you’d like to do on this show? 

JJ: They do put so much of me in there that I don’t feel like I need to step in at all. As the show goes on, you get comfortable pitching things in the moment or doing improv, and all those things will continue to happen and get better. But I’m chill where I am on the acting side because it’s a blessing to get a script and see how hilarious it is. I never even have to wonder about it. I would love to direct, though; that’s my goal. 

AVC: You started as a stand-up. How did that experience affect your performance on Abbott as far as comic timing, line delivery, and looking right at the camera as if it’s your audience? 

JJ: Yes, it definitely affects the comedic timing. That’s what stand-up is. I think it prepared me for performing, period. I had little on-camera experience before I got this show. What can be terrifying is you’re alone onstage. It’s interesting but it’s not a cakewalk. You mentioned looking at the camera. I never thought about it that way, but yes, I guess doing that is like looking out into the audience for the reaction. I don’t get to see that because this is TV, but maybe I expect what’s coming because of stand-up. I will say it’s a different, arduous, but valid path to television if you come from a stand-up background. Comedy is hard. It’s definitely a skill I built doing stand-up. I think Ava’s confidence comes from that confidence I built doing it for 12 years. That lent itself to this character, how she holds herself, and how confident she is in what she’s saying. 

AVC: Do you recall when you realized you wanted to pursue comedy? 

JJ: I don’t have a story about how when I was a kid I wanted to do comedy. I’ve always been just kind of a smart ass [laughs]. I’m actually just a chatterbox more than a class clown. I think that lends itself to the bit of a jerk persona for a character like Ava. The ability to be funny in real life and be funny onstage or onscreen are two different things. So I think the first time I did an open-mic night and someone laughed, that may have been what propelled me to truly pursue it. 

AVC: How different was it to go from that to working on an ensemble network sitcom? 

JJ: It’s good to be with such a great ensemble. I love it. It’s like another muscle I get to develop. I frequently have funny lines, but I love it when I get to tee someone up for a punchline. That requires a different type of comic timing. Stand-up is solitary work, so to work in a group like this was a cool new experience.

AVC: Ava appears to be selfish and obnoxious on paper, but her character development reveals that she cares a lot, just not in the ways people might think. What’s it like to walk that tightrope? 

JJ: I think Ava has a mark against her from the first episode because in the pilot she stole money from the kids. She thankfully hasn’t done anything that egregious since, but I feel like that bit is cemented in people’s minds. That’s what pilots are for, to very broadly mark these characters. I do think in episode two she was showing that she’s more than what she presents. I noticed during a rewatch that the kids love Ava. That’s what matters if you’re an authority figure at school; they need to have a rapport with her. She’s so funny, so I think people are usually waiting for the jokes and might miss the nuances. 

AVC: In the season-three premiere, Ava is way more involved as a principal after getting a degree, and by the end, she gets back in her usual zone with a dance to “Back That Azz Up.” Do episodes like that help you show off your range? 

JJ: I chose that episode as my Emmy submission this year. I thought it was such an honor to be the first thing you see for a season premiere—and then the last thing you see is that dance number, which could have been hokey. It could’ve been one-note, but it meant so much to me and to the people like me who watch and want to convey that there’s a change of lane for Ava. It’s done so smartly in the episode with the writing and the choice of song. 

AVC: Do you have any other favorite Ava scenes from season three? 

JJ: I loved doing the panel with Tyler James Williams and Tatyana Ali, who plays my nemesis. The relay race episode was so fun. We had a lot of bangers last season.

AVC: You also got to remind Bradley Cooper that he’s not in Oppenheimer. 

JJ: Oh, that was great. I think that’s the scene he submitted for his Guest Emmy actor so I couldn’t use it. 

AVC: You’ve been nominated for all three seasons of Abbott Elementary. How does it feel now versus the first time? 

JJ: I was truly in shock the first time. I don’t just mean the Emmy nomination; I mean making the whole first season. By the second one, it was better, and now I feel undeniable because it means I’m doing my job and doing it well.

AVC: Abbott is a straight-up sitcom in a landscape with more dramedies and talks about what it means to be a comedy. How does the reaction to the show feel with that in mind? 

JJ: Yeah, it’s amazing to have a straight-up comedy when there are other shows that make people cry or are about serious family issues. For all of us to be respected and celebrated for being this type of comedy is amazing. Everyone’s laughing. When people come up to me to talk about it, they’re so happy. I’ve had so many great encounters with people who are like, “You got me through the pandemic. You got me through my illness. You made me laugh. It’s the only thing I watch with my kid.” These things have begun to just hit me recently. It’s always in your brain but sometimes you’re too busy to process it. I’m realizing that Abbott Elementary is a TV show that will be in the lexicon for a long time alongside some other great shows. 

AVC: Now that you’re part of this successful sitcom, what are some other genres you’d want to work in? 

JJ: One cool thing about Abbott, and I feel this way about Ava and all the characters, is that it gives us all different flavors. In season four, there’s going to be a new flavor of Ava, but I can’t tell you much about it yet. But I would particularly love to do a romantic comedy and a thriller. I want to do things that are good, which is a position that a lot of actors don’t always get to be in—to wait for things that are good and interesting. So I’d like to see that come across my desk.