Jaye Davidson (born Alfred Amey; March 21, 1968) is an English model, fashion stylist, and retired actor. He made his acting debut as the transvestite Dil in the thriller film ''

The Crying Game ''The Crying Game'' is a 1992 thriller film written and directed by Neil Jordan, produced by Stephen Woolley, and starring Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, Adrian Dunbar, Ralph Brown, and Forest Whitaker. The film explores the ...

'' (1992), for which he received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Following his breakthrough, he portrayed the villainous Ra in the commercially successful science fiction film '' Stargate'' (1994). Davidson retired from acting afterwards, disliking the fame that the roles brought him.

Life

Davidson was born in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

, and was raised in

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...

in Hertfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His father is from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and his mother is from

. Davidson is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. During his acting career, he said that his androgynous look alienated him within the gay community. He stated that gay men "love very masculine men. And I'm not a very masculine person. I'm reasonably thin. I have long hair, which isn't very popular with gay men." In 2017, he married Thomas Clarke.

Career

Davidson, who had no prior professional acting experience, was discovered at a

wrap party Wrap, as used in the phrase "That's a wrap" has been used by directors since the early days of the film industry to signal the end of filming. Since the 1920s, filmmakers have been using this phrase when principal photography is concluded and the ...

for

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

's '' Edward II'' and was invited to audition for ''

''. He was cast in the role of Dil. The film was a critical and popular success. It is known for a surprise plot twist: a love scene in which Dil undresses and main character Fergus (played by Stephen Rea) discovers that Dil is transgender. The scene required full-frontal nudity. Rea later said, “If Jaye hadn’t been a completely convincing woman, my character would have looked stupid.” When the film was released, Miramax requested that reviewers keep Davidson's gender a secret. For his work in ''

'', Davidson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and for the

BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. Actors of all n ...

in 1993. Davidson also received nominations for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor and the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress in 1993. Davidson starred as Ra, an alien impersonating a god, in the 1994 science fiction adventure film '' Stargate''. He was surprised when they agreed to pay his $1 million fee. Davidson later retired from acting, stating that he "genuinely hated the fame" he was receiving. He became more involved in modelling, and has since worked on several high-profile photo shoots, in addition to working as a fashion stylist in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Jaye 1968 births American male film actors American expatriates in England English male film actors Living people English gay actors Male actors from Riverside, California English male models Male models from California Gay models People from Borehamwood American emigrants to England American gay actors LGBT people from California LGBT African Americans