Jesse James Youngblood

Have you always lived in the SGV?

Jesse moved to the SGV in 1990 or 1991.

Jesse used to travel and commute to different gyms in the area to work with certain muscle groups.

Different places had different equipment. He would train at Gold Gym in San Gabriel at least 3 times a week.

Jesse met his wife at that gym as well.

She lives in the area, and Jesse really fell in love with the area. Because he met his wife, he moved out of the SGV.

When Jessie grew up, he was very much a minority growing up around a lot of white kids, but he was also ostracized by people of color as well.

At 16, he found himself on his own with his stuff thrown from the house the day after celebrating graduation from high school.

Thankfully, Jesse’s friend’s parents gave him a place to call home for a time.

Jesse had his stepfather when he was young to teach him a work ethic. So, by the time he was 16, he had savings.

Youngblood is his grandmother’s mason’s name. It’s Native American; Jesse comes from the Yaqui tribe in the southwest area.

He didn’t have that strong of a connection to the tribe because his mother bounced the family around to escape Jesse’s father, who was not a model citizen.

Jesse’s first connection comes from his stepfather’s connection to Temple City. He had family that lived in the SGV that they would come to see.
 

Can you talk about your experience when you were bullied?

Jesse was not the biggest kid in school, so he was an easy target.

When Jesse was 21, he started lifting with another person that he worked with. And from there, he became obsessed.

Jesse gained 100 pounds of muscle in a year’s time.

In the 80s, the SGV produced a lot of bodybuilders, and Jesse was along for the ride.

Jesse even became friends with world-renowned champions.

After working with his partner for months and months, his partner encouraged him to do his first contest. Jesse won that contest.

After he won, it just fed his drive.
 

What happens during a show?

In each weight class, anywhere between 10 to 50 guys line up in a row posing, and the judges ask the contestants to do a certain pose, and they execute the pose.

They kind of pre-judge by putting the less likely-to-win on the sides and the front runners in the middle.

The judges then check for symmetry. That is very important in the contest.

The goal is to be almost a human statue.
 

Is working out like therapy for you?

Jesse says absolutely.

He’s had trauma from a young age; the gym is an arena where he can feel comfortable, and he’s surrounded by people he likes.

It was a healthy way to deal with his negative emotions.

Did you know people that were on steroids?

Jesse says you have to be on steroids to be in that kind of shape.

Because of his extensive experience with steroids, Jesse can look at someone and tell you what kind of steroids and how long they’ve been on it based on their physical attributes.

Jesse’s community would travel to LA and the SGV to make it. It was this area that was like a Mecca for bodybuilding.
 

How did you get into acting?

Jesse was a trainer and trained a lot of celebrities, and from that, he made connections. He was semi-retired, and he was recommended to Alan Finstine.

Jesse had 2 years to make it, and eventually, he got pretty good. He really just committed and worked hard to get good.

Jesse did small roles on History Channel re-enactments.

Jesse met Zack Snyder after he introduced himself to the gym.

After they connected, Zack had Jesse in the trailer for 300. Jesse ultimately was in movie 300.