Jamia Suzette "Jayma" Mays is an American actress. She is known for playing

Emma Pillsbury Emma Pillsbury Schuester (previously Pillsbury-Howell) is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. Portrayed by actress Jayma Mays, Emma has appeared in ''Glee'' from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 1 ...

in the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

musical series ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' (2009–2015) and for her starring roles in the films ''Red Eye'' (2005), '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' (2009) and ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

'' (2011). She is also known for portraying Debbie in the sitcom ''

The Millers ''The Millers'' is an American sitcom television series that was created by Greg Garcia and stars Will Arnett as Nathan Miller and Margo Martindale as Carol Miller. The multi-camera series aired from October 3, 2013 to July 18, 2015 and ran 3 ...

'' (2013–2014) and her recurring role as Charlie Andrews on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sci-fi series ''

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

'' (2006–2010). Mays starred as prosecutor Carol Anne Keane in the NBC sitcom '' Trial & Error'' (2017–2018).

Early life

Mays was raised in

Grundy, Virginia Grundy is a town in Buchanan County, Virginia, United States, an area located within the Appalachian Mountains region. It is the county seat of Buchanan County. The town is home to the Appalachian School of Law. The population was 875 as of the ...

, the daughter of Susan Paulette (née Norris) and James Edwin Mays, a high school teacher who also worked in the coal mining industry. At age 15, she was offered a job working on the local radio station reading the obituaries. After graduating from Grundy High School, she earned an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

from

Southwest Virginia Community College Southwest Virginia Community College (SWCC) is a public community college in Cedar Bluff. It is part of the Virginia Community College System. SWCC was opened in 1968 to serve the residents of Buchanan, Russell and Tazewell counties, as wel ...

. Mays then attended

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

for a year before transferring to

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...

Career

In 2004, Mays made her first television appearance on ''

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

''. The following year, she made her feature film debut with a supporting role in '' Red Eye''. Mays' other credits include '' Six Feet Under'', '' Stacked'', ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

'', ''

Pushing Daisies ''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life ...

'', '' The Comeback'', ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'', ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'', and ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian t ...

''. Mays appeared in other movies, such as ''Bar Starz'', ''

Flags of Our Fathers ''Flags of Our Fathers'' (2000) is a book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about his father, Navy corpsman John Bradley, and five United States Marines, who were made famous by Joe Rosenthal’s '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' photograph. Th ...

'' and '' Blind Guy Driving''. She starred in the spoof film ''

Epic Movie ''Epic Movie'' is a 2007 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and produced by Paul Schiff. It stars Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Jayma Mays, Jennifer Coolidge, Faune A. Chambers, Crispin Glover, Tony Cox ...

'' and as Amy in '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop''. She was a patient on ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'' in the episode "Sleeping Dogs Lie" in 2006. Mays has played the love interest of a character played by

Masi Oka is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's ''Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS's ''Hawaii Five-0'' as Doctor Max Bergman. Early life Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. Hi ...

in two different roles: Charlie Andrews on ''Heroes'' and Nina in the direct-to-DVD film '' Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control''. She has also been cast as a love interest twice for ''Glee'' co-star

Matthew Morrison Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television show ''Glee (TV series), Glee'' (2009–2015). He has s ...

; in an unaired TV show called ''Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office'', and as mysophobic guidance counsellor

on the

show ''

'', which premiered on May 19, 2009. She was part of the main cast of ''Glee'' for the first three seasons, then was made a guest star in seasons four, five, and six. She has also performed musical numbers on ''Glee'' including her solo performance of "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me" from ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple ...

'' during the themed episode "The Rocky Horror Glee Show"; which was also the song she had sung for her audition for the role. In March 2010, Mays played Grace Winslow, the female lead in the live-action/animated film adaptation of ''

''. She also played the role of Charlotte, Henry Grubstick's ex-girlfriend on ''Ugly Betty''. In August 2014, Mays helped to raise awareness of the disease

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

by participating in the

Ice Bucket Challenge The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving the pouring of a bucket of ice water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyo ...

. She also appeared in the music video for

Switchfoot Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, back ...

's single " Awakening". From 2017–2018, Mays starred in the NBC crime anthology comedy '' Trial & Error'' as prosecutor Carol Anne Keane. She also appeared in a 2018 episode of ''

Great News ''Great News'' is an American sitcom television series created and written by Tracey Wigfield, and executive produced by Wigfield alongside Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, and David Miner for 3 Arts Entertainment, Little Stranger and Universal Telev ...

'' as Cat, the girlfriend of Greg, played by Mays's husband Adam Campbell. In April 2021, it was announced that Mays was cast in '' Disenchanted'', the long-awaited sequel to the 2007 film '' Enchanted'', along with

Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates'' ...

and

Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of ''The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the ABC sit ...

Personal life

Mays met her husband Adam Campbell on the set of ''

'' in 2006. She gave birth to their son in August 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Jayma Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Tennessee Actresses from Virginia American voice actresses American film actresses American television actresses Singers from Virginia People from Grundy, Virginia Radford University alumni Virginia Tech alumni 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Year of birth missing (living people)