• Former professional athlete Devale Ellis transitioned from the NFL to the entertainment industry over a decade ago.
• The star of Tyler Perry’s series sisters And Zatima now appears in the Netflix romantic comedy Meet me next Christmas
• Ellis and his wife Khadeen, parents to four sons, also host a podcast and share a behind-the-scenes look at their lives on YouTube.

Devale Ellis has the resume of someone who has lived many lives: The former NFL player, who turned to entertainment more than a decade ago, is not just a TV and cinema, but also a podcaster, YouTube Personality, New York Times bestselling author and Broadway producer as well.

“My schedule is a little crazy,” admits the Atlanta-based father of four. A little? That’s an understatement.

“I don’t go to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning. This is my most creative period. I can write, I can call and do things with the people on the West Coast because they’re always awake,” he continues.

Ellis doesn’t believe in the old cliché that “he who gets up early catches the worm.” Through his story, the night owl obtains the world.

His efforts largely bore fruit. Ellis, who looks at least ten years younger than his 40 years, currently stars in two television series, BET’s sisters and BET+ Zatimaand he stars in Netflix’s new romantic comedy Meet me next Christmas.

In the heartwarming holiday film, he plays a janitor who helps a powerful executive (played by Christine Milian) attends a sold-out Pentatonix concert so she can reunite with the dreamy guy she met a year ago.

With the film, Ellis says he found his sweet spot. “I love romantic comedies. I am naturally stupid. I like to be funny, I like to love.

He also has an affinity with the great men of the genre. “I like Ryan Reynolds. I like Matt McConaughey. Coupling is one of my favorite films,” he says, referring to the 2005 film. Will Smith hit. “Watching these men move from romantic comedies to deeper films is what I ultimately want to do too.”

His dream role? “I want to play LL Cool J. in his biopic,” says Ellis. “I’m a big fan of LL Cool J. I’m from New York. I understand his journey and his work. I saw it go from “Mama Said Knock You Out” to Deep blue sea. I’ve seen him (go) from rapper to comedian, and I think I could do that role justice. I think this will be the role I win an Oscar for. »

Ellis – one of three children raised by his parents Troy and Karen – knew from a young age growing up in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood that he wanted to act. “In a way, I’ve always seen this for myself,” he says.

His father, who worked in a bank and did club security on weekends, ran a mentoring program for young men and showed them a bootleg copy of Boyz n the HoodJohn Singleton’s 1992 coming-of-age drama set in Los Angeles.

“I saw how captivated the audience was,” Ellis recalls. “And I said, ‘I want that power to be able to captivate an audience.’ »

But he turned instead to sport. “As a young black man, there was no path to the arts. “It’s like in the ’90s, everyone was, in some way, I would say, out of touch with the world today,” says Ellis.

“To be completely frank, homophobia was rampant in the 90s, especially in urban areas. So, being a part of the arts was not seen as something that a young black man was supposed to be a part of,” he continues.

“I wanted to leave Brooklyn, so I said sports could be my way to leave Brooklyn. I said, “If I can get a scholarship to go to school, I could get my degree, I could get a brownstone in Brooklyn.” I don’t have to be a starving artist, and then I can go home and work on my craft. That was the plan and that’s what I was able to do,” Ellis says.

He played football and studied communications and performance at Hofstra University, where he met his now-wife (and podcast co-host) Khadeen, whom Ellis affectionately calls “my person.”

After college, Ellis was briefly signed with the Cleveland Browns and then the Detroit Lions, but he was cut in the summer of 2009. While many athletes would be devastated, Ellis saw an opportunity to continue his career. initial dream: a career in entertainment. .

Ellis — who had lost all of his savings in the 2008 stock market crash and his $500,000-a-year NFL salary — and Khadeen returned to live with his family in Brooklyn while they regrouped. Khadeen had previously worked as a makeup artist and supported them while Ellis studied at Esper Studio, a theater conservatory in New York.

“I learned so much about the business. It was a great opportunity,” says Ellis, who began finding work in the industry, landing small roles on TV shows like Gotham And The mysteries of Lauraand behind the scenes Power as Omari Hardwick’s body double.

“I’m a student of the game more than anything else,” he says.

But Ellis wasn’t getting the type of parts he really wanted. “I was always offered the same role: he was a gangbanger, he was the drug dealer, he was the guy in the queue,” says Ellis. “I said, ‘For them to see me differently, they have to see me differently.'”

To that end, he and Khadeen — who share sons Jackson, 13, Kairo, 8, Kaz, 7, and Dakota, 3 — began filming YouTube segments, showing behind-the-scenes glimpses into their lives as parents .

The videos — like clips of Ellis and Khadeen visiting Hofstra, where they met, or talking about one of their sons peeing on the toilet seat — became wildly popular, garnering hundreds of thousands of views and earning them recognition around the world.

“I have fans from the Netherlands, Nigeria and Asia,” says Ellis. “They send me messages like, ‘I’ve never seen an American father like this, so involved, but funny and sexy with his wife.’ I’m just a regular person like everyone else.

Maybe not everyone other. He and Khadeem have since launched a podcast, Dead ass with K&E (Joe Biden was a guest in 2020 while running for president) and wrote a New York Times bestseller, We are on mewhich gives an intimate look at their relationship.

Over the years, Ellis faced financial struggles, his addiction to painkillers following a knee injury during his time in the NFL, and his life-threatening battle with postpartum preeclampsia.

But, says Ellis, “there’s nothing we can’t discuss and get done.” It’s that simple. If you want to be somewhere and you want to be with someone who wants to be with you, there’s nothing you can’t overcome.

Together, they build what Ellis calls an “empire,” all while learning from the billionaire. Tyler Perrywho chose the actor to play the complicated Zac Taylor in his juicy BET series sisters in 2019. Three years later, Ellis had a spin-off, Zatimaon BET+.

“Working with Tyler was a true master lesson,” says Ellis. But regardless of his success, his boys always keep him humble.

“Right now, I’m cool because I’m on TV, but I’m not cool because I played in the NFL and never scored a touchdown. So my kids tell me, “You’re not an athlete. We don’t want to hear it. What are your stats? » he said, laughing. “It’s hard, but the kids will be honest with you.”

Ellis will probably get more cool points with the kids next year when Othello — the Shakespeare play he co-produced — opens on Broadway with Denzel Washington And Jake Gyllenhaal in the main roles. “I’m excited,” says Ellis, who has yet to meet the stars. “I’ll get my act together when I do.”

He can’t wait to see what the future holds, no matter what it looks like.

“There is no book about life. We’re all trying to figure it out. I’m trying to find the right fit while balancing being a father, husband and businessman,” says Ellis. “It’s scary, but it’s invigorating.”

Meet me next Christmas is on Netflix November 6.