Jayma Mays
| Jayma Mays | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Mays at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards |
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| Born | Jamia Suzette Mays July 16, 1979 Grundy, Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Radford University |
| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Spouse(s) | Adam Campbell (m. 2007–present) |
Jayma Suzette Mays (born Jamia Suzette Mays; July 16, 1979) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Emma Pillsbury on the Fox musical series Glee. She also played roles in the films Paul Blart: Mall Cop and The Smurfs.
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Early life [edit]
Mays was born and raised in Grundy, Virginia, the daughter of Paulette (née Norris) and James Mays, a high school teacher who also worked in the coal mining industry. Mays' interests as a child ranged from singing to mathematics. At the age of 15, Mays was offered a job working on the local radio station reading the obituaries. After graduating from Grundy High School, she earned an associate's degree from Southwest Virginia Community College. Mays then attended Virginia Tech for a year before transferring to Radford University,[1] graduating in 2001 with a degree in theatre.[2]
Career [edit]
In 2004, she made her first television appearance on Joey. The following year, she made her feature film debut with a supporting role in Red Eye. Mays's other credits include Six Feet Under, The Comeback, Entourage, Stacked, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Pushing Daisies where she played both Elsita and her mother Elsa in episode four, Ghost Whisperer, and Ugly Betty. Mays was in other movies, such as Bar Starz, Flags of Our Fathers and Blind Guy Driving. She starred in the spoof film Epic Movie and as Amy in Paul Blart: Mall Cop. She was a patient on House in the episode "Sleeping Dogs Lie" in 2006. She stars in the 2007 music video for the song "Awakening" by Switchfoot alongside her husband Adam Campbell.[3]
Mays has played the love interest of a character played by Masi Oka 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; in an unaired TV show called Nice Girls Don't Get the corner Office, where Mays landed the lead role and she stars as Emma Pillsbury on the Fox show Glee, which premiered on May 19, 2009; and in March 2010, Mays played the female lead in a live action/animation hybrid film version of The Smurfs.[4] She is also cast as a character named "Charlie" twice: Charlie Andrews on Heroes; Charlotte, Henry Grubstick's ex-girlfriend on Ugly Betty.
Personal life [edit]
Mays married actor Adam Campbell on October 28, 2007.[3]
Filmography [edit]
Film [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Red Eye | Cynthia | |
| 2006 | Blind Dating | Mandy | also known as "Blind Guy Driving" |
| Flags of Our Fathers | Nurse in Hawaii | ||
| 2007 | Smiley Face | Actress in Waiting Room | |
| Epic Movie | Lucy | Main character | |
| Bar Starz | Tiffany | ||
| 2008 | Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control | Nina | |
| 2009 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop | Amy Anderson | Main character |
| 2011 | The Smurfs | Grace Winslow | |
| 2013 | The Smurfs 2 | In post-production |
Television [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Joey | Molly | Episode: "Joey and the Party" |
| 2005 | The Comeback | Sales Girl | Episode: "Valerie Demands Dignity" |
| Six Feet Under | Donna | Episode: "The Rainbow of Her Reasons" | |
| Stacked | Brenda | Episode: "Nobody Says I Love You" | |
| 2005, 2013 |
How I Met Your Mother | Coat Check Girl | Episodes: "Okay Awesome", "The Time Travelers" |
| 2006 | If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now | Sandra | TV pilot |
| 30 Even Scarier Movie Moments | Herself | TV miniseries | |
| House | Hannah | Episode: "Sleeping Dogs Lie" | |
| Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip | Daphne | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| Entourage | Jen | Episode: "Sorry, Ari" | |
| Heroes | Charlie Andrews | 5 episodes | |
| 2007 | Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office | Angela | TV pilot |
| 2007–08 | Ugly Betty | Charlie | 8 episodes |
| 2007 | Ghost Whisperer | Jennifer Billings | Episode: "The Underneath" |
| Pushing Daisies | Elsita/Elsa | Episode: "Pigeon" | |
| Drunk History | Annabelle | Episode: "Drunk History Vol. 2.5: Featuring Jack Black" | |
| 2008 | Back to You | Shelley Ken | Episode: "Date Night" |
| 2009– present |
Glee | Emma Pillsbury | Main cast (seasons 1–3); recurring cast (season 4) Won – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series |
| 2012 | The League | Trixie Von Stein | 3 Episodes |
References [edit]
- ^ Tennis, Joe (February 15, 2009). "Living a Hollywood Dream". Bristol Herald Courier. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
- ^ Department of Theatre and Cinema: Alumni, retrieved July 23, 2011
- ^ a b 2007, She (1 February 2010). "Glee Forums". Retrieved January 1, 2011.
- ^ Kit, Borys (17 March 2010). "Glee's Jayma Mays cast in 'Smurfs'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
External links [edit]
- Jayma Mays at the Internet Movie Database
- Jayma Mays at TV.com
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- 1979 births
- Living people
- Actresses from Virginia
- American film actresses
- Virginia Tech alumni
- American television actresses
- American female singers
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- People from Bristol, Tennessee
- People from Grundy, Virginia
- Radford University alumni
- 21st-century American actresses
