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 Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

'', Britt Pollack on the FX series ''

Terriers Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary gr ...

'', Neal Cassidy/Baelfire on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in the ...

'', and Mitch Longo on the

CBS All Access Paramount+ is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Me ...

series '' Tell Me a Story''.

Life and career

Raymond-James was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, 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 The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, a ...

in New York, with George Loros, Geoffrey Horne and Robert Castle. 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 ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'', ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'', ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, t ...

'', '' ER'' and the season two premiere of ''

Lie to Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

''. He starred in the FX original series ''

'' which was canceled by FX on December 6, 2010 after the first season. Raymond-James also played the role of Rene Lanier on the

original series ''

''. In his feature debut Raymond-James played the best friend of Justin Timberlake's character in '' Black Snake Moan'' with

Christina Ricci Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. Known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge, Ricci predominantly works in independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box office hits. She has receiv ...

and

Samuel Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

. 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 Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

", Raymond-James played a young man named Dave, who presents a threat to series protagonist

Rick Grimes Rick Grimes is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the post-apocalyptic comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and the first nine seasons of the television series of the same name, in which he is portrayed by Andrew Lincoln. Creat ...

and his group. 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. In 2020, Raymond-James was cast to play in the lead role of Gavin Wolcott in 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 ...

apocalyptic drama pilot ''La Brea'' which was written by David Appelbaum; however, he left the project and was replaced by

Eoin Macken Eoin Christopher Macken (born 21 February 1983) is an Irish actor, director, and model. Macken has modelled for Abercrombie and Fitch, Ralph Lauren, and GQ, and has appeared in films such as ''Resident Evil'', ''Close, Killing Jesus'', and '' ...

. In the 2021-22 season he recurs on '' Law & Order: Organized Crime'' as Jon Kosta.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raymond-James, Michael 1977 births American male film actors American male television actors Hollywood United players Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Living people 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Detroit Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality