James Roday Rodriguez

James Roday Rodriguez[1] (born James David Rodriguez, April 4, 1976) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for starring on the USA Network series Psych as hyper-observant consultant detective and fake psychic Shawn Spencer. He stars in A Million Little Things, which debuted in 2018.[2]

"James D. Rodriguez" redirects here. For other uses, see James Rodríguez (disambiguation).
James Roday Rodriguez
Roday Rodriguez at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2013
Born
James David Rodriguez

(1976-04-04) April 4, 1976
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Other namesJames Roday (professional name prior to 2020)
Alma materNew York University (BFA)
Occupation
  • Actor
  • director
  • screenwriter
Years active1999–present
Partner(s)Maggie Lawson (2006–2014)

Early life

Rodriguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, as James David Rodriguez.[1] He attended Taft High School in San Antonio.[3] His father, Jaime "Jim" Rodriguez, is of Mexican descent, and his mother, Deborah Collins, is of English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Rodriguez's father is a retired Air Force Master Sergeant and used to be the regional catering manager of Taco Cabana.[4][5]

At New York University's Experimental Theatre Wing, Rodriguez studied theatre and earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts.[6] At the age of 22, he selected the professional name James Roday. In a July 2020 interview, Rodriguez explained the decision was mainly driven by producers urging him to change his name to better suit his Caucasian appearance. The characters he read for up until that point either were not written with a Latino background or required a non-white "Mexican" appearance. In order to book his first job, he legally changed his middle name, David, to Roday, and omitted Rodriguez from his screen name. In the same interview, he announced that he was going to use his full legal name, James Roday Rodriguez, going forward.[7]

Career

Rodriguez started his acting career starring in various theatrical productions, including Three Sisters, A Respectable Wedding and Severity's Mistress. He took on leading roles in Sexual Perversity in Chicago and Extinction which he produced with his theatre company Red Dog Squadron, for which he also directed the play Greedy and wrote and directed the one-act play Sustenance. His most recent foray onto the stage was in December 2016, when he starred in the New York production of White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour.[8]

His big screen debut was in the 1999 film Coming Soon alongside Ryan Reynolds and fellow debutant Ashton Kutcher. Other early film credits include the 2003 film Rolling Kansas and the 2005 film adaptation of The Dukes Of Hazzard. Behind the scenes, he and writing partners Todd Harthan and James DeMonaco wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film Skinwalkers. The team also worked on a script for the film adaptation of the video game Driver.

James Roday Rodriguez (Middle) at a ComicCon panel in 2013 with Dulé Hill (right) and Maggie Lawson (left).

Rodriguez's television credits include starring roles in 2001's First Years and NBC's Miss Match in 2003. His big break came on July 7, 2006, with the series premiere of USA Network's original series Psych. Airing following the season premiere of USA's other comedic success, Monk, it was the highest-rated scripted basic cable TV show premiere of 2006.[9] Psych ran for eight seasons until 2014.

After Psych ended, Rodriguez starred in various pilots and independent films, most notably Pushing Dead by independent filmmaker Tom E. Brown which accumulated a slew of awards at film festivals all over the country. At the same time, he began focusing on his work behind the camera as a director, writer and producer. Rodriguez has since directed episodes for Battle Creek, Rush Hour, Rosewood, Blood Drive and The Resident and developed, wrote, and directed the pilots Shoot The Moon for USA and Quest For Truth for E!.

Rodriguez directed his first feature film, Gravy, in 2013, written by him and Todd Harthan. He co-wrote (once again with Todd Harthan) and directed his second film Treehouse as part of Hulu's monthly horror movie anthology Into The Dark, which aired in March 2019.

In 2017, Rodriguez returned to his most famous role as he starred in and executive produced Psych: The Movie. The TV movie, which he also co-wrote with Psych's series creator Steve Franks, aired in December 2017. A sequel, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home was officially announced on February 14, 2019. It was filmed in Vancouver in March and April of that year and debuted July 15, 2020 on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock.[10][11] Lassie Come Home was the first project that featured his full legal name, James Roday Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is currently starring as Gary Mendez on ABC's dramedy A Million Little Things. The third season premiered on November 19, 2020.[12]

Personal life

Rodriguez is the co-artistic director of the Red Dog Squadron, a Los Angeles theater company he co-founded with Brad Raider.[13][14] In 2012, Rodriguez and Black Dahlia artistic director Matt Shakman bought the El Centro Theatre and started a long process of renovations with the intent of reopening it under its original name Circle Theatre. In a newsletter from August 2018, Raider and Rodriguez announced that they had to resell the theatre in early 2018.[15]

Rodriguez dated his Psych co-star Maggie Lawson from 2006 to 2014, coinciding with the series run.[16][17]

Filmography

Actor
YearTitleRoleNotes
1999Coming SoonChad
Ryan Caulfield: Year OneVicSeries Regular
2000BelieveBruce Arm / Agent JohnnyShort
Get RealTrent Sykes
2001First YearsEdgarSeries Regular
2002Repli-KateMaxLead
ProvidenceAlexander Conrad
Showtime'Maxis' Cameraman
Rolling KansasDick Murphy
2003Miss MatchNick PaineSeries Regular
2004The Revolutionn/aNew York Summer Project[18]
2005Don't Come KnockingMickey, First Assistant Director
The Dukes of HazzardBilly Prickett
2006BeerfestGerman Messenger
2006–14PsychShawn SpencerAlso writer, director, and producer 2009–2014
2008Fear ItselfCarlosEpisode: "In Sickness and in Health"
2009GamerNews Co-Host #1
2011WWE Tough EnoughHimselfEpisode: "I've Been Bamboozled & Flabbergasted"
Love BitesJeffEpisode: "TMI"
2012WWE Raw Super ShowHimselfSpecial guest ring announcer
2013Mr. PaybackMalikaiShort
2015GravyMartyAlso director and co-writer
Good SessionJoelPilot, lead
Christmas EveBAka Stuck
Baby Baby BabyJ.B.
The Nerd HerdKip MitchellPilot, lead
2016Pushing DeadDan SchaubleLead
2017Psych: The MovieShawn SpencerTV film, also co-writer and executive producer
2018–presentA Million Little ThingsGary MendezSeries regular
2018Fortune Rookie[19]RodayRecurring
2019The Buddy GamesZane
BerserkOfficer Duane
2020Psych 2: Lassie Come HomeShawn SpencerTV film, also co-writer and executive producer

Director
YearTitleNotes
2009–14Psych8 seasons, also lead actor and occasional writer
2014Shoot The Moon[20]Pilot, writer
2015GravyAlso actor and co-writer
Battle CreekEpisode: "Homecoming"
Quest For TruthPilot, also co-writer
2015–16Rosewood5 episodes
2016Rush HourEpisode: "Knock, Knock... House Creeping!"
2017Blood Drive2 episodes
2018–2019The Resident4 episodes
2019TreehouseAlso co-writer

Writer
YearTitleNotes
2002The DriverUnused first draft
2006SkinwalkersCo-written with James DeMonaco and Todd Harthan
2006–14Psych16 episodes, also lead actor and occasional director
2014Shoot The Moon[20]Pilot, also director
2015Quest For TruthPilot, also director
2015GravyAlso actor and director
2017Psych: The MovieAlso lead actor and executive producer
2019TreehouseAlso director
2020Psych 2: Lassie Come HomeAlso lead actor and executive producer

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2006
Satellite Awards Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical Psych Nominated
2008 NCLR ALMA Awards Outstanding Actor in a Drama Television Series Nominated [21]
Online Film & Television Association Best Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
2009 EWwy Award Best Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated [22]
NCLR ALMA Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
Imagen Awards Best Actor – Television Nominated [23]
Online Film & Television Association Best Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
2010
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series Psych (for episode "High Top Fade Out", shared with Saladin K. Patterson) Nominated [24]
2011 NCLR ALMA Awards Favorite TV Actor – Leading Role Psych Nominated
Imagen Awards Best Actor – Television Nominated [23]
1st Annual Timmys Awards Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
StageSceneLA's “Best Of 2010–2011 Scenies” Outstanding Direction of a Comedy-Drama greedy Won [25]
2012 NCLR ALMA Awards Favorite TV Actor – Leading Role Psych Nominated
2nd Annual Timmys Awards Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series Won
Imagen Awards Best Actor – Television Won [26]
2016 POZ Awards Best Actor or Actress in Film or Television Pushing Dead Nominated [27]
2017 FilmOut Festival Award Best Actor Won [28]

References
  1. Lee Hernandez (October 12, 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Psych' Star James Roday Explains Why He Changed His Latino Last Name for Hollywood". Latina. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-01-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Martinez, Kiko. "Psych out". Hispanic Magazine. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  4. Hernandez, Lee. "EXCLUSIVE: 'Psych' Star James Roday Explains Why He Changed His Latino Last Name for Hollywood". Latina. Archived from the original on 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  5. "'Psych' star James Roday on life, family in Waxahachie". Waxahachietx.com. 2012-02-29. Archived from the original on 2016-01-17. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  6. Roberts, Robin (August 9, 2007). "Psych's Two Sleuths Reveal Their Poker Faces" Archived 2011-08-09 at the Wayback Machine. TV Guide.
  7. Ausiello, Michael (July 14, 2020). "James Roday Details 'Deeply Personal' Decision to Reclaim Birth Name Rodriguez: 'I Want to Be the Most Honest Ally for My Community'". TVLine. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  8. "Psych Tony Nominee Micah Stock and PSYCH's James Roday Headed to WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT". October 24, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  9. Reuters (July 11, 2006). "Psych premiere sets basic cable mark". TV.com.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2019-02-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Psych: The Movie 2 Is Coming to USA Network Later This Year! - Blog". USA Network. 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Red Dog Squadron: About". Red Dog Squadron. Archived from the original on 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  14. Lufkin, Bryan (July 7, 2010). "James Roday, Steve Franks Promise "Twin Peaks" Episode of Psych". Starpulse.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  15. "Roday, Raider, & Red Dog's Return". Myemail.constantcontact.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  16. David, Mark (17 January 2014). "Maggie Lawson Lists Eco-Friendly Los Feliz Home". Variety.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  17. Graff, Michael (22 June 2018). "10 Iconic Sitcom Stars Who Got Together (And 10 Who Are Just Friends)". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  18. "Michele Noble". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  19. "About the Rookie". Fortunerookie.net. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  20. "James Roday Signs with ICM Partners". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  21. Dare, Johnny (June 25, 2009). "Interview: James Roday". freejohnnydare.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2019-05-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. Foundation, Imagen. "Imagen Awards". Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  24. "NOMINEES FOR 41st NAACP IMAGE AWARDS ANNOUNCED LIVE AT PRESS CONFERENCE BY TAYE DIGGS, MICHAEL STRAHAN, WANDA SYKES, KYLE MASSEY, CHRIS MASSEY, TATYANA ALI AND NAACP EXECUTIVES – Press Room – NAACP". 25 July 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010.
  25. "2010-2011 StageSceneLA Scenies". 12 September 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  26. "Awards list". www.imagen.org. 2012. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  27. "POZ Awards 2016 / Best Actor or Actress in Film or Television". POZ. 9 October 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  28. "Awards list". gay-sd.com. 2017. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
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