While straight-laced theatrical comedy movies are something of a rarity these days, One of Them Days came out earlier this year to prove that this style of comedy film can still do well in today’s theatrical climate. One of Them Days‘ cast is headlined by Keke Palmer and musician SZA, but the film has plenty of other great actors in some of the smaller roles, including one of the stars of the ABC mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary, Janelle James.

One of Them Days received great reviews, and while it wasn’t any sort of groundbreaking, it was a very well-rounded comedy, clearly resonating with both critics and audiences, earning this movie a very solid Rotten Tomatoes score. Although Janelle James’ character wasn’t in very much of the movie, as she only really appeared in one scene, that scene was one of the film’s most enjoyable, even more so than One of Them Days‘ great ending moments.

Janelle James’ Role In One Of Them Days Is Very Reminiscent Of Abbott Elementary’s Ava

Janelle James Plays Similar Roles In Both Projects

In One of Them Days, Janelle James played a character named Ruby, a nurse who worked at the blood bank. She was very inexperienced and chaotic, which led to a hilarious scene where Keke Palmer’s character Dreux got woozy from the huge amount of blood she tried to donate, eventually resulting in a huge splatter of blood all over Ruby, Dreux, and Alyssa. The character was very goofy and bumbling, acting in a very similar way to James’ Abbott Elementary character Ava.

Out of all of Abbott Elementary‘s characters, Ava is one of the favorites, even though she is not exactly very great at her job. James’ character in One of Them Days was very reminiscent of Ava, as she didn’t really know what she was doing as a nurse, leading to the eventual chaos that left Dreux nearly bloodless. Both characters are chaotic and unpredictable, often leaving the people around them very confused.

Janelle James Needs To Star In More Movies After One Of Them Days

She Is An Extremely Talented Performer Who Deserves More Roles

Surprisingly, Janelle James has only ever appeared in three movies throughout her career, including One of Them Days, The Garfield Movie, and Tom of Your Life. Her performance in Abbott Elementary has always been amazing, so her lack of roles in bigger films is surprising and unfortunate.

James is clearly great at playing the Ruby/Ava character archetype, but I’m sure she would be just as funny in other types of comedic roles After her great showing in One of Them Days, I hope she appears in a lot more movies going forward.