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Michael Raymond-James

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Raymond-James
Raymond-James in 2013.
Born
Michael Weverstad

(1977-12-24) December 24, 1977 (age 46)
OccupationActor
Years active2000–present

Michael Raymond-James (born Michael Weverstad; December 24, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for playing René Lenier in the first season of the HBO series True Blood, Britt Pollack on the FX series Terriers, Neal Cassidy/Baelfire on the ABC series Once Upon a Time, and Mitch Longo on the CBS All Access series Tell Me a Story.

Life and career

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Raymond-James was born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated Clarkston High School in 1996, where he was a football and track standout. He started out doing theater and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, with George Loros, Geoffrey Horne and Robert Castle.[1] Following several stage appearances in New York, including The Petrified Forest at the Pantheon Theater, he relocated to Los Angeles.

He has guest starred in such series as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Medium, Boston Legal, ER and the season two premiere of Lie to Me. He starred in the FX original series Terriers[2] which was canceled by FX on December 6, 2010 after the first season. Raymond-James also played the role of Rene Lanier on the HBO original series True Blood.

In his feature debut Raymond-James played the best friend of Justin Timberlake's character in Black Snake Moan with Christina Ricci and Samuel Jackson. The actor also starred in Jonny Hirschbein's award-winning short film 'The Fix,' working alongside Robert Patrick and David Paymer. His feature-film credits include 'Moonlight Serenade,' starring as a piano prodigy opposite Academy Award Nominee Amy Adams.

In an episode of The Walking Dead titled "Nebraska", Raymond-James played a young man named Dave, who presents a threat to series protagonist Rick Grimes and his group.[3]

He starred in Once Upon a Time as Neal Cassidy/Baelfire, who is Henry's father as well as Rumpelstiltskin's son and is later revealed to be the grandson of Peter Pan.[4][5][6]

In 2020, Raymond-James was cast to play the lead role of Gavin Wolcott in the NBC apocalyptic drama pilot La Brea which was written by David Appelbaum; [7] however, he left the project and was replaced by Eoin Macken.[8] In the 2021-22 season he recurs on Law & Order: Organized Crime as Jon Kosta.[9]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2000 Minor Blues Dill
2006 Black Snake Moan Gill
2010 The Twenty Unknown
2011 Bowman Mickey Short film
2012 Jack Reacher Linsky[10]
2013 Road to Paloma Irish
2014 The Salvation Paul
2016 The Finest Hours D.A. Brown
2017 Carter & June Carter Jennings
2021 Sweet Girl FBI Detective John Rothman
2021 American Insurrection Gabe
2022 The Integrity of Joseph Chambers Lone Wolf

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 Line of Fire Threat Episode: "Take the Money and Run"
The Handler Mace Episode: "Off the Edge"
2004 ER Mr. Tunny Episode: "Try Carter"
North Shore Damien Pruitt Episode: "Meteor Shower"
2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Aaron Colite Episode: "Unbearable"
2006 Boston Legal Kevin Armus Episode: "Ivan the Incorrigible"
Medium Travis McQueen Episode: "Ghost in the Machine"
2008–2011 True Blood Rene Lenier 14 episodes
2009 ER
Stuart Moore Episode: "The Family Man"
Cold Case John "Shameless" Clark '76 Episode: "Jackals"
Lie to Me Gavin Howell Episode: "The Core of It"
Life Tex Episode: "Canyon Flowers"
Last of the Ninth Tommy "Babyface" Leone Television film
2010 Saving Grace Westy Stevenson Episode: "Hear the Birds?"
Terriers Britt Pollack 13 episodes
2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Eddie Skinner Episode: "Smoked"
2012 The Walking Dead Dave Episode: "Nebraska"
2015 Sons of Liberty Paul Revere[11] TV miniseries
2012–2016 Once Upon a Time Neal Cassidy/Baelfire 24 episodes
2016 Game of Silence Gil Harris[12] 10 Episodes
Lethal Weapon Chad Jackson Episode: "Spilt Milk"
2018 Frontier Fortunato Main role
2018–2019 Tell Me a Story Mitch Longo Main role (Season 1)
2019–2020 Prodigal Son Paul Lazar Recurring role,[13] 3 episodes
2019–2020 Billions Jackie Connerty 3 episodes
2021 Big Sky Blake Kleinsasser 4 episodes
2021 Law & Order: Organized Crime Jon Kosta Recurring role, 3 episodes
2022 See Ranger Main role (Season 3)
2023 Godfather of Harlem Joseph Columbo Main role (Season 3)
2024 FBI: Most Wanted Ethan McPherson Recurring role, 3 episodes

References

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  1. ^ Exclusive Audio Interview with Michael Raymond-James, True-Blood.net
  2. ^ "Interview: 'Terriers' stars Donal Logue & Michael Raymond-James". Uproxx. September 2, 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  3. ^ "True Blood's Michael Raymond James joins 'The Walking Dead'". www.digitalspy.com. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  4. ^ "True Blood's Michael Raymond-James Joins 'Once Upon a Time'". www.tvguide.com. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  5. ^ "'Once Upon a Time': Michael Raymond-James on Neal's Mysterious Background (Q&A)". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Once Upon a Time: Michael Raymond-James returns for 100th episode". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  7. ^ Petski, Denise (February 20, 2020). "Michael Raymond-James To Star In NBC Drama Pilot 'La Brea', Karina Logue & Zyra Gorecki Also Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 4, 2021). "'La Brea': Eoin Macken To Star, Jon Seda To Return As NBC Series Also Casts Jack Martin & Lily Santiago". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Molli (September 23, 2021). "Meet the new 'Law & Order Organized Crime' cast and characters". Newsweek. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  10. ^ "True Blood's Michael Raymond-James Joins Tom Cruise In One Shot". www.cinemablend.com. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  11. ^ "'Sons Of Liberty': Michael Raymond-James On Recreating Paul Revere's Midnight Ride". www.accesshollywood.com. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Michael Raymond-James Previews Game of Silence's Looming 'Hurricane,' Weighs In on Once Upon a Time Encore". tvline.com. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  13. ^ Kinane, Ruth (9 October 2019). "'Prodigal Son' adds 'True Blood' actor Michael Raymond-James in a recurring role". Entertainment Weekly.
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