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Leslie Jones: 5 Reasons Why We Love the Ghostbusters Star

The Saturday Night Live funny lady does a lot more than just makes us LOL

By Marc Malkin Jun 08, 2016 1:00 PMTags

Leslie Jones is on fire.

Not only is she one of Saturday Night Live's hottest players right now, but she also co-stars opposite Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Chris Hemsworth in the new reboot of Ghostbusters.

"She makes me laugh so hard," Wiig says in a new video exclusively released to E! News. "What she does with every line is so funny."

But being funny certainly isn't the only reason why we're obsessed with Jones. Here, we give you the top five reasons why we love Leslie Jones...

1. School Ties: Jones went to college on a basketball scholarship. After changing her major a few times, she thought about playing professional ball in Europe. While in college, she started to do stand-up and won the Funniest Person on Campus contest.

2. Help Wanted: Before hitting it big, Jones worked as a cook, waitress, cashier, justice of the peace and a telemarketer for the Church of Scientology. "I lived in Glendale. I needed to pay the rent and it was a very easy interview," she said during a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with her Ghostbusters co-stars. "I just acted crazy!."

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3. Age Is Only a Number: In October 2014, at age 47, Jones became the oldest person to become a cast member on SNL. The following year she appeared as an angry subway rider in Trainwreck—she completely stole the brief, but hilarious scene. Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow created the part for Jones!

4. Unfiltered: She's not afraid to speak her mind. While out to dinner one night with Larry Wilmore, right wing political activist Ann Coulter moved toward their table. According to a profile of Jones in The New Yorker, "Jones leaned across the table and stage-whispered, 'What the f--k is this frightening bitch doing here?' Coulter's face froze in a rictus, and she soon backed away from the table."

5. Me, Myself and I: She has self-confidence. "I just knew that I was funny, and I knew that it was just a matter of time," she says in the new issue of Elle. "I didn't know what was going to actually happen—this is definitely way bigger than I thought—but I knew there was no way I was going to be that funny and nobody was going to notice it."

And make sure to check out what Leslie told E! News last night at Elle's Women in Comedy event in L.A. in the video below.

Watch: Leslie Jones Dishes on "Surreal" "Ghostbusters" Reboot
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