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Jaye Davidson

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Jaye Davidson
Born
Alfred Amey[1]

(1968-03-21) 21 March 1968 (age 56)[2]
Riverside, California
Occupation(s)Actor, model
Years active1992–1995, 2009
Spouse
Thomas Clarke
​
(m. 2017)​

Jaye Davidson (born Alfred Amey; 21 March 1968) is an English model, fashion stylist, and retired actor. He made his acting debut as Dil in the thriller film The Crying Game (1992),[1][3] for which he received an Academy Award 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

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Davidson was born in Riverside, California, and was raised in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, England.[4] His father is from Ghana and his mother is from England.[3] Davidson is gay. 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".[5] In 2017, he married Thomas Clarke.[6]

Career

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Davidson, who had no prior professional acting experience, was discovered at a wrap party for Derek Jarman's Edward II and was invited to audition for The Crying Game.[7] He was cast in the role of Dil.[8] The film was a critical and commercial success.[9] 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.[10] 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.[7]

For his work in The Crying Game, Davidson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor[11][12] and for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1993.[13] Davidson also received nominations for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor[14] and the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress in 1993.[14]

Davidson starred as Ra, an alien impersonating a god,[15] in the 1994 science fiction adventure film Stargate.[16][17] He was surprised when they agreed to pay his $1 million fee.[18]

Davidson later retired from acting,[8] 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.[19][20]

Filmography

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Film work by Jaye Davidson
Year Title Role Director Notes
1992 The Crying Game Dil Neil Jordan National Board of Review Award for Most Auspicious Debut[21]
Nominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor[22]
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor[11][12]
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role[13]
Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor[14]
Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress[14]
1994 Stargate Ra Roland Emmerich
1994 Jiggery Pokery Jo Television film
1995 Catwalk Himself Robert Leacock Documentary
2009 The Borghilde Project Nazi photographer Myles Grimsdale

References

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  1. ^ a b "Jaye Davidson". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Jaye Davidson". IMDb. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b Maslin, Janet (17 December 1992). "INTO THE LIMELIGHT WITH: Jaye Davidson; A Star to Match A Mystery Role". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  4. ^ Celebrities with a connection to Borehamwood and Elstree - Borehamwood and Elstree Times - Discussion on Topix Archived 30 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  5. ^ Giles, Jeff (22 March 1993). "The Open Secret -- In A Rare Interview, Jaye Davidson Leaves Nothing To The Imagination When Discussing The Oscar-Nominated Film, 'The Crying Game'". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  6. ^ "A Closer Look at Jaye Davidson's Life — From His Bio and Career to His Marriage and Where He Is Now". hollywoodmask. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b Giles, Jeff (1 April 1993). "Jaye Davidson: Oscar's Big Surprise". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b Brady, Tara (1 August 2017). "'The Crying Game': 'They wanted me to cast a woman that was pretending to be a man'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  9. ^ Harris, Mark (5 February 2014). "Neil Jordan's surprise hit". Entertainment Weekly.
  10. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (5 December 2014). "Stephen Rea on The Crying Game's Surprise Penis". Vulture. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  11. ^ a b "The 6th Academy Awards 1993". 65th Academy Awards. 7 March 1993. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  12. ^ a b "1992 Academy Awards® Winners and History". AMC FilmSite. 7 March 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Actor in a Supporting Role in 1993". BAFTA. 4 January 1993. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d Adler, Tony (7 March 1993). "Actor in a Supporting Role in 1993". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  15. ^ Dolgoff, Stephanie (28 October 1994). "EGYPTOLOGIST GUIDES 'STARGATE' CAST IN HIEROGLYPHICS-SPEAK". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  16. ^ Hinson, Hal (28 October 1994). "'StarGate' (PG-13)". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  17. ^ LeVasseur, Andrea (2012). "Jaye Davidson". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  18. ^ Colby, Adam (29 May 2020). "Whatever happened to... Jaye Davidson?". Stack. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020.
  19. ^ Vincent, Alice (15 February 2016). "Oscars flashback: whatever happened to Gilbert Grape's mama?". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ Polowy, Kevin (5 March 2019). "Whatever happened to 'Crying Game' star Jaye Davidson?". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  21. ^ Cohn, Lawrence (24 February 1993). "No-shows beset Griffith Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  22. ^ Fox, David J. (4 January 1993). "'Unforgiven' Tops National Critics' List: Awards: Clint Eastwood film is picked as best movie of '92, Eastwood as best director, David Webb Peoples' tale as best screenplay". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
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