Jay Ellis stopped by CBS Mornings to discuss his new book, Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)?: Adventures in Boyhood.
The memoir by the actor, known for his roles in the series The Game and Insecure, was published Tuesday by One World. A critic for Kirkus praised the book as “funny, honest, and moving.”
On the show, Ellis talked about being inspired to write the book during the Covid-19 pandemic after looking at photos from his childhood.
“I had all these memories that were just flashing in front of me,” he said. “I started remembering stuff, and then [my mother] started telling me stories, and then it just kind of sat with me for a while. And I just remember my imaginary friend across so much of it.”
Ellis discussed creating his childhood imaginary friend as a way of coping with a stressful time growing up in the 1990s, when 24-hour cable television became widespread and conflicts in the Middle East dominated the headlines.
“As a kid, trying to process all of that, plus being an only child, plus moving around all the time—I went to 12 schools in 13 years; my dad was in the Air Force—I created this imaginary friend, Mikey, to help me process the world around me, and be with me for every new school I went to, and every character I created and persona I created,” he said. “Mikey was there to help me get through all of that.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
