PITTSBURGH — At first, Simone Joy Jones aspired to be Beyonce. But after seeing Leslie Odom Jr. and Renee Elise Goldsberry in "Hamilton," she found a new career goal and a path to get there.
"I want to know how to build and affect people just like they do," the 22-year-old San Antonio native recalled thinking. "And I went into a rabbit hole of who they are and what they did, and a common denominator was Carnegie Mellon."
Jones graduated from CMU in May of last year and has kicked off her acting career by landing two high-profile roles as Megan in "What If?," fellow CMU alumnus Billy Porter's Pittsburgh-shot directorial debut, and as Lisa in "Bel-Air," a reimagining of the classic Will Smith sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" premiering Sunday on Peacock.
