Jamie Clayton (born on January 15, 1978) is an American actress and model. Clayton is best known for starring as Nomi Marks in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

original series ''

Sense8 ''Sense8'' (a play on the word '' sensate'' ) is an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski for Netflix. The production companies behind ''Sense8'' included th ...

'', Sasha Booker in the third season of ''

Designated Survivor In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a named individual in the presidential line of succession, chosen to stay at an undisclosed secure location, away from events such as State of the Union addresses and pre ...

'' and Tess Van De Berg in

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's '' The L Word: Generation Q''. She portrays Pinhead in the 2022 ''Hellraiser'' film.

Early life

Clayton was raised in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Her father, Howard Clayton, was a

criminal defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various jur ...

, and her mother, Shelley, is an

event planner Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...

. When she was 19, Clayton moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to pursue a career as a

makeup artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions incl ...

Career

In 2010, Clayton was the makeup artist and co-host on VH1's first makeover show '' TRANSform Me''. The following year she played the recurring role of Kyla in the third 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 ''

Hung Hung may refer to: People * Hung (surname), various Chinese surnames * Hùng king, a king of Vietnam People with the given name Hung include: * Hung Huynh, Vietnamese-American chef, winner of the third season of the television show ''Top Chef'' ...

''. In 2012, Clayton played the lead role of Michelle Darnell on the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winning interactive web series '' Dirty Work'' and the role of Carla Favers on the TV series '' Are We There Yet?'' She also narrated the

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

for the

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

novel ''

Melissa Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Me ...

'' about a young transgender girl. Clayton starred as one of the eight main characters in the

original television series ''

'' that premiered on June 5, 2015. In ''Sense8'' she played Nomi Marks, a trans woman, political blogger, and hacker living in San Francisco. Clayton said that she was primarily interested in ''Sense8'' because of the opportunity to play a transgender character written by filmmakers Lilly and Lana Wachowski and to be on set with them. Being a fan of science fiction and J. Michael Straczynski in particular also attracted her to this project. Clayton appeared in the 2016 film ''

The Neon Demon ''The Neon Demon'' is a 2016 psychological horror film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, co-written by Mary Laws, Polly Stenham, and Refn, and starring Elle Fanning. The plot follows an aspiring model in Los Angeles whose beauty and youth gener ...

'' and the 2017

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

The Snowman ''The Snowman'' is a 1982 British animated television film based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book ''The Snowman.'' It was directed by Dianne Jackson for Channel 4. It was first shown on 26 December 1982, and was an immediate success. It wa ...

''. In 2019, Clayton starred as Sasha Booker in the third season of the Netflix's ''

''. From 2019 through Season 3, Clayton starred in '' The L Word: Generation Q'', the sequel to the

original ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene Ch ...

''. Season 2 of ''The L Word: Generation Q'' has aired through season three. She also guest starred in

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

’s '' Roswell: New Mexico''. In 2022, Clayton starred as Pinhead, the antagonist in ''Hellraiser''.

Personal life

Clayton is a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

. In 2011, she was honored by '' Out'' magazine as part of their annual "Out 100" awards.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Jamie 1978 births Living people Actresses from San Diego American film actresses American television actresses Female models from California American LGBT actors LGBT people from California Transgender actresses Transgender female models