Janeshia Adams-Ginyard

Janeshia Adams-Ginyard
Adams-Ginyard at the Palm Springs Fashion Week April 2019
Born (1984-02-14) February 14, 1984 (age 40)[1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Occupation(s)Actress, stuntwoman, professional wrestler
Years active2009–present

Janeshia Adams-Ginyard (born February 14, 1984) is an American actress, stunt woman and professional wrestler.[2] She is best known for her role as Nomble, one of the Dora Milaje, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther and the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and her work as a stunt woman on both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.[3]

Early life

Adams-Ginyard was born in Los Angeles, California.[1] She has two siblings, a brother and a twin sister.[1] She is of Jamaican descent.

She attended Gahr High School in Cerritos, California, where she was a noted athlete. She holds multiple records in athletics, including 300 metres hurdles, heptathlon, and as part of the 4 x 100 metres relay and 4 x 400 metres relay.[1] She also played volleyball.[1] During her senior year, she was the California Interscholastic Federation 300 metres hurdles champion.[1] After graduating, she attended the University of California, Berkeley.[1] At UC Berkeley, she studied linguistics and African-American studies, with an emphasis on Caribbean culture, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree.[4][5] She is fluent in American sign language.[5] She is the CEO of Hyphy 4 Christ, Inc., a faith-based organization.[6]

Sports

Between 2006 and 2007, she was a member of the U.S. National Bobsled team as a brakeman.[5] She and Jamia Jackson were the first all African-American female team.[5] Beginning in 2012, Adams-Ginyard hosted the LA Talk Live Radio Show, Lady J's Wild World of Sports.[5] In 2012, she began her professional wrestling career with WOW! Women of Wrestling, under the ring name FROST The Olympian, based on her real-life experience as a bobsledder.[7]

Acting and stunt career

In preparation for a career as a stunt performer, Adams-Ginyard studied taekwondo and gymnastics.[4] She also gained experience on film sets by working as an extra.[4]

She began working as a stunt performer in 2010,[8] and went on to perform stunts for television programs, including The Mindy Project, K.C. Undercover, True Blood and American Horror Story.[4][5] Adams-Ginyard appeared in the 2018 film Black Panther as a member of the Dora Milaje.[4] She also worked as a stunt performer for the film, and another Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Avengers: Infinity War, as the stunt double for Danai Gurira.[4][5] She worked as a stunt performer on 9-1-1 and Godzilla: King of the Monsters,[4] and Us.[9]

She has also appeared in commercials for Nike and Toyota, and was featured in a Lexus advertisement at the Super Bowl in 2018.[10][11] The stunt performers for Black Panther won Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2019.[12]

On July 13, 2021, it was announced that Janeshia was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the new category of Outstanding Stunt Performance for her work on the HBO series, Lovecraft Country. And on November 10, 2021, she became a Member of the SAG-AFTRA National Stunt Committee.

Selected filmography

Acting roles
Year Title Role Notes
2009 I'm Alive Sgt. Monique Munro-Harris TV series
2013 Women of Wrestling Frost TV series
2015 Coaching Bad TV series
2018 Black Panther Nomble
2018 Station 19 Tactical Commander TV series
2020 Corporate Lives and House Wives Monica
2021 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Nomble TV series
2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2023 South Park: Joining the Panderverse Panderverse Eric Cartman, additional voices (voice) TV film
Stunt roles
Year Title Notes
2011 Black Gold
2011 Contagion
2013 Justified
2014 True Blood [4]
2014 Hawaii Five-0
2015 Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything
2016 Shameless
2016 K.C. Undercover [5]
2016 Broad City
2016 Teen Wolf
2017 Fear the Walking Dead
2017 The Mindy Project [5]
2018 Black Panther
2018 Avengers: Infinity War
2018 Insecure
2018 American Horror Story [4]
2018 NCIS: Los Angeles
2018 The Rookie
2018 9-1-1 [4]
2019 I Am the Night
2019 Us
2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters [4]
2019 Dolemite Is My Name

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Janeshia Adams-Ginyard". The University of California. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  2. ^ "Black Panther stunt woman Janeshia Adams-Ginyard". CBC News. March 21, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  3. ^ "Janeshia Adams-Ginyard (Black Panther & Avengers Infinity War) PSCX 2018 Panel". tocmovies.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Komaragiri, Anagha (April 26, 2018). "UC Berkeley alumna, stunt performer Janeshia Adams-Ginyard talks 'Avengers: Infinity War'". artsdesign.berkeley.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Be In The Talk With Black Panther's Janeshia Adams-Ginyard". blacktalent.tv. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  6. ^ "C&C Teen Hollywood Film Festival - Janeshia Adams-Ginyard Interview". jeanbooknerd.com. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  7. ^ "Stuntwoman Janeshia Adams-Ginyard Talks Process Of Training To Wrestle". fightful.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  8. ^ Hill, Jarrett (February 16, 2018). "'Black Panther' actress Janeshia Adams-Ginyard talks living the stuntwoman life". NBC News. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  9. ^ "'Black Panther' stunt doubles to visit Millikin University". herald-review.com. April 16, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  10. ^ Caslin, Yvette (February 9, 2018). "Stunt actress Janeshia Adams-Ginyard lands awe-inspiring 'Black Panther' role". rollingout.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  11. ^ Hines, Carolyn (February 17, 2018). "BGN Interview: Stuntwoman And Actress Janeshia Adams-Ginyard of 'Black Panther'". blackgirlnerds.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  12. ^ "STUNT PERFORMERS FROM 'BLACK PANTHER' AND 'GLOW' ANNOUNCED AS 25TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® HONOREES FOR OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCES BY FILM AND TELEVISION STUNT ENSEMBLES". sagawards.org. Retrieved March 28, 2019.