Jonica T. Gibbs
Jonica "Jojo" T. Gibbs is an American actress and comedian. She plays the lead role of Hattie on the BET series "Twenties". Early life and education. Gibbs was born in South Carolina and raised by her great-grandparents in Hampstead, North Carolina. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gibbs felt discouraged from pursuing journalism after negative experiences with faculty members in the department. After graduation she moved around and worked several jobs, including substitute teaching, and acted in student films at SCAD. Career. 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". They shot and financed two episodes and created a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the remaining eight episodes. They reached out to a number of Black television creatives to market the campaign, including Lena Waithe. 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. Gibbs has a recurring role in "Good Trouble" and the scripted podcast "The Left Right Game". Gibbs is main cast member in the thriller "Fresh", which debuted at 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Personal life. Gibbs is openly gay. She came out to her mother at 19 after watching "True Life": "I'm Coming Out".