Jefferson Mays

Jefferson Mays

Born: June 8, 1965
in Connecticut, USA
Jefferson Mays (born Lewis Jefferson Mays; June 8, 1965) is an American film, stage and television actor.

Mays was raised in Clinton, Connecticut with his parents, a naval intelligence officer and a children's librarian, and his siblings. Mays graduated from Yale College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and the University of California, San Diego, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts.

Mays appeared on Broadway in I Am My Own Wife, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Doug Wright, from November 2003 (previews) to October 31, 2004. He had appeared in the play Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 2003, and at the La Jolla Playhouse in July 2001.

Mays won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show, an Obie Award, and a 2004 Theatre World Award for his solo performance. He also won the 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play for seasons of I Am My Own Wife in Australia in 2006.

In 2007, he appeared as Henry Higgins in a revival of Pygmalion and starred as Private Mason in a revival of Journey's End. In August 2009, Mays appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Quartermaine's Terms by Simon Grey.

Mays starred in the 2013 Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, in which he played eight roles. He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He also was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and tied for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (with Neil Patrick Harris).

Movies for Jefferson Mays...

Seneca: On the Creation of Earthquakes
Title: Seneca: On the Creation of Earthquakes
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: February 20, 2023
Type: Movie
Rome in 65 AD, Emperor Nero's tyrannical regime has reached its zenith, Nero's self-indulgence and excessiveness brings up the opposition against him, conspiracies threaten his power. By all means Nero tries to defend his despotic claim of sovereignty. The famous philosopher Seneca has been Nero's teacher, mentor and close advisor since childhood, he is significantly involved in his ascent. Nevertheless, Nero gets weary of Seneca and Nero uses a foiled attack on his life to falsely accuse Seneca of being an accomplice.
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Title: Julia
Character: Albert Duhamel
Released: March 31, 2022
Type: TV
Through Julia Child’s life and her singular joie de vivre, the series explores a pivotal time in American history – the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women's movement, the nature of celebrity and America's cultural evolution.
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
Title: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Character: Doctor
Released: December 5, 2021
Type: Movie
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
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Title: Hacks
Character: T.L. Gurley
Released: May 13, 2021
Type: TV
Explore a dark mentorship that forms between Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas comedian, and an entitled, outcast 25-year-old.
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Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
Title: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
Character: Narrator
Released: November 28, 2020
Type: Movie
The timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge comes to thrilling new life as Tony winner Jefferson Mays plays over 50 roles in a virtuosic masterclass of a performance that must be seen to be believed.
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Title: Perry Mason
Character: Virgil Sheets
Released: June 21, 2020
Type: TV
Set in 1932 Los Angeles, the series focuses on the origin story of famed defense lawyer Perry Mason. Living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, Mason is haunted by his wartime experiences in France and suffering the effects of a broken marriage. L.A. is booming while the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression — but a kidnapping gone very wrong leads to Mason exposing a fractured city as he uncovers the truth of the crime.
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Title: I Am the Night
Character: George Hodel
Released: January 28, 2019
Type: TV
Fauna Hodel, who was given away by her teenage birth mother, begins to investigate the secrets to her past, following a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to an infamous Hollywood gynecologist connected to the legendary Black Dahlia murder.
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The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Title: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Character: Gilbert Longabaugh (segment "The Gal Who Got Rattled")
Released: November 9, 2018
Type: Movie
Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.
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Curated
Title: Curated
Character: The Curator
Released: September 8, 2018
Type: Movie
During a reluctant trip to her late Grandmother's home in the middle of nowhere, Nancy learns that a person's sentiment and complexities aren't limited to the things they leave behind. Created for TNT's Shatterbox project.
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Rebel in the Rye
Title: Rebel in the Rye
Character: William Maxwell
Released: September 15, 2017
Type: Movie
The life of celebrated but reclusive author J.D. Salinger, who gained worldwide fame with the publication of his novel The Catcher in the Rye.
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Title: Westworld
Character: Liam Dempsey, Sr.
Released: October 2, 2016
Type: TV
A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
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Title: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Character: Daddy
Released: March 6, 2015
Type: TV
When a woman is rescued from a doomsday cult and lands in New York City, she must navigate a world she didn’t think even existed anymore.
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Title: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Character: Daddy (voice)
Released: March 6, 2015
Type: TV
When a woman is rescued from a doomsday cult and lands in New York City, she must navigate a world she didn’t think even existed anymore.
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I Am Michael
Title: I Am Michael
Character: Preacher Teacher
Released: January 29, 2015
Type: Movie
The controversial true story of a gay activist who rejects his homosexuality and becomes a Christian pastor.
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Inherent Vice
Title: Inherent Vice
Character: Dr. Threeply
Released: December 12, 2014
Type: Movie
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
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The Raven
Title: The Raven
Character: Voice over (voice)
Released: October 9, 2014
Type: Movie
In this chilling and lyrical reinterpretation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem, a narrator mourning the loss of his love, Lenore, wavers on the brink of insanity. Perhaps hallucinating - or not - he sees a mysterious raven, whispering, 'nevermore.'
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The Cask of Amontillado
Title: The Cask of Amontillado
Character: Fortunato
Released: September 24, 2014
Type: Movie
Deep beneath the streets of Italy lie the catacombs of the Montresors, filled with barrels of wine and the bones of the dead. One evening, friends Fortunado and Montresor venture below the city with promises of the rare vintage wine Amontillado.
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Ned Rifle
Title: Ned Rifle
Character: Dr. Ford
Released: September 7, 2014
Type: Movie
Henry’s and Fay's son Ned sets out to find and kill his father for destroying his mother's life. But his aims are frustrated by the troublesome Susan, whose connection to Henry predates even his arrival in the lives of the Grim family.
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The Giver
Title: The Giver
Character: Community (voice)
Released: August 13, 2014
Type: Movie
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
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My America
Title: My America
Released: July 4, 2014
Type: Movie
21 monologues written by American playwrights form a sort of fractured portrait of the American collective psyche. Ranging from the sad to the hilarious, from the angry to the tentatively celebratory, many of the major and recurrent issues associated with our fraught but beloved union are reconsidered with elegance, wit, brutal honesty, and a little outright insanity.
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Title: The Blacklist
Character: Norman Devane
Released: September 23, 2013
Type: TV
Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.
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Title: The Americans
Character: Walter Taffet
Released: January 30, 2013
Type: TV
Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, The Americans is the story of Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and their neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI Counterintelligence agent.
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How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Title: How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Character: Bill Nathanson
Released: October 2, 2008
Type: Movie
Sidney Young is a down-on-his-luck journalist. Thanks to a stint involving a pig and a glitzy awards ceremony, Sidney turns his fortunes around, attracting the attention of Clayton Harding, editor of New York-based glossy magazine 'Sharps', and landing the holy grail of journalism jobs. The Brit jets off to the Big Apple and moves from one blunder to the next.
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Title: Fringe
Character: Nicholas Boone
Released: September 9, 2008
Type: TV
FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, brilliant but formerly institutionalized scientist Walter Bishop and his scheming, reluctant son Peter uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.
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The Notorious Bettie Page
Title: The Notorious Bettie Page
Character: Little John
Released: September 14, 2005
Type: Movie
Bettie Page grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day.
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Title: The Closer
Character: Dr. Easton
Released: June 13, 2005
Type: TV
Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson transfers from Atlanta to LA to head up a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Johnson's quirky personality and hard-nosed approach often rubs her colleagues the wrong way, but her reputation as one of the world's best interrogator eventually wins over even her toughest critics.
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The Fight
Title: The Fight
Released: January 24, 2005
Type: Movie
Explores the famous 1938 heavyweight bout between German Max Schmeling and American Joe Louis and finds two men who, in the shadow of war, became reluctant symbols of equality and supremacy, democracy and fascism.
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Alfie
Title: Alfie
Character: Dr. Miranda Kulp
Released: October 22, 2004
Type: Movie
In Manhattan, the British limousine driver Alfie is surrounded by beautiful women, having one night stands with all of them and without any sort of commitment. His best friends are his colleague Marlon and his girl-friend Lonette. Alfie has a brief affair with Lonette, and the consequences force Alfie to reflect on his lifestyle.
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Title: Benjamin Franklin
Character: Elkanah Watson
Released: November 19, 2002
Type: TV
An epic yarn spanning most of the 18th century, the series follows Franklin's career from humble beginnings in Boston to international superstardom: first as a scientist and revolutionary, and then as a founding father and America's first diplomat to France.
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Title: Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Character: Keifer Gates
Released: September 30, 2001
Type: TV
The third installment of the “Law & Order” franchise takes viewers deep into the minds of its criminals while following the intense psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve its crimes.
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Title: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Character: Carl Rudnick
Released: September 20, 1999
Type: TV
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.
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The Big Brass Ring
Title: The Big Brass Ring
Character: Garne Strickland
Released: April 20, 1999
Type: Movie
Blake Pellarin is on the campaign trail to become president of the United States. While making a stop in St. Louis, a chance encounter brings his past back to haunt him.
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Hudson River Blues
Title: Hudson River Blues
Released: December 12, 1997
Type: Movie
Hoping to help their marriage, a Manhattan lawyer (Rya Kihlstedt) brings her burned-out husband (Robert Stanton) to her mother's home upstate.
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Title: Liberty!
Character: James Madison
Released: November 23, 1997
Type: TV
Dramatic documentary about the birth of the American Republic and the struggle of a loosely connected group of states to become a nation.
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The Low Life
Title: The Low Life
Character: Hollywood Mogul
Released: November 1, 1995
Type: Movie
Yale graduate John has come to Hollywood to catch his big break. It hasn't happened yet.
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Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade
Title: Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade
Character: Gerry Woolridge
Released: March 26, 1994
Type: Movie
25 years after committing a double murder, Karl Childers is going to be released from an institution for the criminally insane. A local reporter comes to talk to him, and listens in horror about his life leading up to the crime. This is the short film that inspired the full-length "Sling Blade".
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Title: Law & Order
Character: Mr. Olson
Released: September 13, 1990
Type: TV
In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.