| Birth Place: | Gaffney, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Other Names: | Jojo T. Gibbs |
| Occupation: | Actress, comedian |
| Years Active: | 2015–present |
| Known For: | Twenties |
| Notable Works: | Fresh |
Jonica "Jojo" T. Gibbs is an American actress and comedian. She plays the lead role of Hattie on the BET series Twenties.[1]
Gibbs was born in South Carolina[2] and raised by her great-grandparents in Hampstead, North Carolina.[3] She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Negative experiences with faculty members in the department discouraged her from pursuing journalism.[4] After graduation, she worked several jobs, including as a substitute teacher, and acted in student films at SCAD.
Gibbs moved to Los Angeles in 2015 to pursue acting professionally, a year after she began stand-up comedy. She and her close friend Rashonda Joplin started a production company and developed the web series No More Comics in L.A.[5] They shot and financed two episodes and created a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the remaining eight episodes.[6] They reached out to a number of Black television creatives to market the campaign, including Lena Waithe.[7]
Waithe invited Gibbs to audition for Twenties, which was her first audition. Gibbs was cast in the lead role as Hattie, a broke, queer, aspiring TV writer loosely based on Waithe's experiences. Gibbs has spoken about the significance of playing one of few masculine-of-center lesbians in American media.[8]
Gibbs has a recurring role in Good Trouble and the scripted podcast The Left Right Game.[9] [10] Gibbs starred in the 2022 thriller Fresh.[11]
Gibbs is openly gay.[12] She came out to her mother at 19 after watching True Life: I'm Coming Out.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 | Good Trouble | Fundraiser Guest | Recurring role | |
| 2020 | The Left Right Game | Eve (voice) | Podcast series | |
| 2020–2021 | Twenties | Hattie | Main role | |
| 2021 | Electric Easy[13] | Omni / Martha (voice) | Podcast series |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Fresh | Mollie | ||
| Something from Tiffany's | Terri Blake | |||
| 2023 | Past Lives | Janice | ||
| Dogman | Evelyn | |||
| 2024 | Civil War | WF White House Sergeant | ||
| Dirty Angels |