Jimel Atkins

The Jamaican native spent his early childhood in Springfield, Massachusetts where he developed a love for sports in America. Sports led Jimel into pursuing a career in athletics first which developed into being a wide-receiver for the University of South Florida (2012-2015). It was his time in Tampa, FL where he would head to the movie theaters that he soon noticed a change in his desire to continue the pursuit of a career in football and instead decided to follow an over-whelming yearning for the arts. He recalls his early childhood where he would spend almost every weekend at the movie theaters with his family. When no one was looking, he would act out scenes from his favorite movies. In 2016 Jimel decided to step away from athletics and the college journey. He registered to attend acting schools in the Tampa Bay area. There, he spent countless hours emerging in the art of acting, not only deepening his love for the arts but also his love for Tampa Bay, often referring to Tampa as a second home. Only two years later, Jimel got an opportunity to work in the hit Netflix Series "Mindhunter", which led to his first major recurring role as Ray Kelly in the critically acclaimed award winning OWN TV series "David Makes Man", produced by Oprah Winfrey and written by Oscar Winner Tarell Alvin McCraney.