Jared Antonio Farrow (born October 14, 1987), better known by his stage name Jay Pharoah, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2010 to 2016. In 2015, he was ranked the 55th greatest Saturday Night Live cast member by Rolling Stone magazine. He also voiced characters such as Meena's Grandfather in Sing (2016) and Noah in The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021).
Early life Pharoah was born and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia. He began performing impersonations at age six and cites Gilbert Gottfried's character Iago in Aladdin as his first voice, explaining, "My father put me in a talent competition a couple of months later, and out of the whole thing I got fifth place."
In 2005, Pharoah graduated from Indian River High School in Chesapeake. One of his characters, Principal Daniel Frye, is heavily influenced by IRHS's former principal, James Frye. Pharoah graduated from Tidewater Community College with an Associate of Arts degree in 2008 and an Associate of Science in 2010. He briefly attended Virginia Commonwealth University.
Career
Pharoah has been performing stand-up comedy in community theaters and at comedy clubs in Virginia since he was 15.Sources conflict on when he started standup. The Washington Post source indicates he started at 15. He at one point toured with Corey Holcomb and Charlie Murphy.
He became known for his many celebrity impressions, including Barack Obama, Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Bernie Mac, DMX, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Clarence Thomas, Rick James, Eddie Murphy, Charlie Murphy, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle, Mr. T, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Kanye West, Stephen A. Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy Morgan, Orlando Bloom, Peter Dinklage, Michael Strahan and Denzel Washington.
Pharoah became an internet phenomenon when his impersonation of Barack Obama became widely seen on YouTube.
2010–2016: Saturday Night Live In 2010, Pharoah was hired by Saturday Night Live as a featured performer for the show's 36th season. Producer, Lorne Michaels in a 2014 interview with Vulture said he "...does a really good Obama." Pharoah debuted on Saturday Night Live on September 25, 2010 and was regarded by Rob Moynihan of TV Guide as the "breakout player" for that season, for his impressions of Barack Obama, Ben Carson, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Stephen A. Smith, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Chris Tucker, Michael Strahan, Lil Wayne, Kevin Hart, Kendrick Lamar, Shaquille O'Neal and Denzel Washington. He debuted his SNL impersonation of Barack Obama in the 38th season premiere on September 15, 2012, succeeding Fred Armisen in that role."Inbox". TV Guide. October 8, 2012. Rolling Stone magazine described him as the "Jimmy Fallon of 2 Chainz impressions."
Pharoah appeared in the independent film Lola Versus, released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in June 2012. In 2014, he had a small role in the buddy cop film Ride Along, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, and appeared in the independent film Balls Out, a sport comedy starring fellow SNL cast members Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon.
In 2016, he appeared in a commercial for Old Navy, alongside fellow SNL cast members Nasim Pedrad and Cecily Strong. On August 8, 2016, it was announced Pharoah alongside fellow cast member Taran Killam would be exiting the show ahead of its 42nd season. Pharoah hosted the American Music Awards of 2016 with model Gigi Hadid. Pharoah has been working on his first album with record producer Myles William.
In 2024 Pharoah started hosting The Quiz with Balls on Fox.
Personal life 2020 police encounter In June 2020, Pharoah released footage showing how he had been detained at gunpoint by police several months earlier while in his neighborhood, after he matched the description of a wanted black man wearing grey sweatpants and shirt. He released the footage in response to the George Floyd protests. Officers of the Los Angeles Police Department detained Pharoah, with an officer kneeling on Pharoah's neck similar to what happened in the murder of George Floyd. After the officers confirmed Pharoah's identity with an online search, they apologized and let him go.
Religion Jay Pharoah is a Christian.
Filmography
Film +Key Denotes films that have not yet been released Year Title Role Notes 2012 Lola Versus Randy 2013 Underdogs Announcer 2 2014 Ride Along Runflat Balls Out Dan Top Five Mike 2016 Get a Job Skeezy D Sing Meena's Grandfather (voice) 2018 Unsane Nate Hoffman 2019 How to Fake a War Harry Hope 2020 Bad Hair Julius 2 Minutes of Fame Deandre All My Life Dave Berger 2021 The Mitchells vs. the Machines Noah (voice) Resort to Love Jason King 2022 The Blackening Shawn 2023 Spinning Gold Cecil Holmes The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart Nuno Blood (voice) Urkel Saves Santa: The Movie Jay-Z (voice) Direct-to-video 2024 Running on Empty Sid TBA The Adventures of Drunky (voice) In production
Television YearTitleRoleNotes 2010–2016 Saturday Night Live Various Main cast (season 36-41) 2011 The Cookout 2 Eddie O TV movie 2014 Portlandia Jay-Z (voice) Episode: "Ecoterrorists" 2016–2017 Legends of Chamberlain Heights Montrel, Randy (voice) Main cast 2017 BoJack Horseman Man on the Street, Dashawn Manheim (voice) 2 episodes White Famous Floyd Mooney Main cast 2017–2024 Family Guy Skee-Lo, Kanye West, Kanye Canes, Brick Baker, Reverend Lucius, Moses Beauford (voices) Recurring role; Also consulting producer (2022–present) 2018 SuperMansion Various 3 episodes Champaign ILL Lou Recurring cast 2019–2023 A Million Little Things Omar Howard 3 episodes 2020 The Masked Singer Self Guest judge Loafy Zookeeper Dan (voice) Recurring cast 2020–2021 Nickelodeon's Unfiltered Host TV series 2021 Robot Chicken Barack Obama (voice) Episode: "May Cause Your Dad to Come Back With That Gallon of Milk He Went Out for 10 Years Ago" 2022 That's My Jam Self Episode: "Jay Pharoah & Nikki Glaser vs. Terry Crews & Dan Finnerty" A Black Lady Sketch Show Lavonte Episode: "Bounce Them Coochies, Y'all!" Out of Office Neal TV movie Bubble Guppies Buster (voice) Episode: "The Solar Light Spectacular!" 2022–2023 American Dad! Mr. Fritz / Angry Husband (voice) 2 episodes 2022–2024 The Simpsons Drederick Tatum (voice) 5 episodes 2023–present Invincible Bulletproof, Komodo Dragon, Data Twin #1, Various (voice) Recurring cast 2024 Good Times: Black Again Junior (voice) Main Sausage Party: Foodtopia Food in Crowd (voice) 4 episodes 2024–present The Quiz with Balls Self Host
Video games Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016) – Andre Invincible VS (2026) - Bulletproof
References
External links