Jump to content

James Ransone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Ransone
Born
James Finley Ransone III

(1979-06-02) June 2, 1979 (age 45)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active2001–present
SpouseJamie McPhee
Children1

James "PJ" Finley Ransone III[1] (born June 2, 1979) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of the drama series The Wire, US Marine Corps Cpl. Josh Ray Person in the war drama miniseries Generation Kill (2008),[2][3] The Deputy in the supernatural horror films Sinister (2012) and Sinister 2 (2015), Chester in Tangerine (2015), the adult Eddie Kaspbrak in It Chapter Two (2019), and Max in The Black Phone (2021).

Life

[edit]

Ransone was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland,[4] the son of Joyce (née Peterson) and James Finley Ransone II, a Vietnam War veteran.[5] He was educated at the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, Maryland, and attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan for one year.[5]

In May 2021, on his Instagram account, Ransone wrote that he was sexually abused by his math tutor Timothy Rualo in 1992.[6] He reported his allegations to the Baltimore County police in March 2020, but they declined to pursue the charges after an investigation. An investigation by the Baltimore school system has not yet been resolved.[7]

By the age of 27, Ransone had developed a heroin addiction and a debt of $30,000,[8] but became sober in 2007.[4]

He is married to Jamie McPhee, with whom he has a son.[9]

Career

[edit]

In 2002, Ransone co-starred in the Larry Clark drama film Ken Park as Tate.[10] In 2003, he was featured in 12 episodes of The Wire, as Ziggy Sobotka. He had a supporting role in Spike Lee's 2006 heist movie Inside Man as bank robber, Steve-O. He starred in the 2008 miniseries Generation Kill as Cpl. Josh Ray Person. In 2010, he was cast in a recurring role in the HBO comedy series How to Make It in America, and the following year, appeared in a recurring role in the HBO drama series Treme.[11] In 2012, he starred in the drama film Starlet.[12] The following year, he starred in the AMC drama series Low Winter Sun as Damon Callis.[13]

Ransone then starred in the 2012 horror film Sinister in the supporting role of Deputy So-and-So. In June 2014, Ransone joined the cast of the Western film In a Valley of Violence.[14] Also in 2014, Ransone starred in Small Engine Repair off-Broadway. In 2015, he had a supporting role in the comedy-drama film Tangerine.[15] Following the success of Sinister, Ransone appeared in the 2015 sequel Sinister 2, reprising his role from the first film but now as the main character.[16] In 2016, Ransone appeared in Season 2 of the drama series Bosch as Eddie Arceneaux.

In 2019, Ransone played Eddie Kaspbrak (sharing the role with Jack Dylan Grazer) in the horror film It Chapter Two, for which he received critical praise.[citation needed]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2001 The American Astronaut Bodysuit
2002 Ken Park Tate
2003 Fan Mail Ricky Short film
Nola Neo-Gothboy
2004 A Dirty Shame Dave "Dingy Dave"
Downtown: A Street Tale Billy
Malachance Mika
2005 The Good Humor Man "Junebug"
Granted! Larry Short film
2006 Inside Man Darius Peltz / Steve-O
Directions: The Plans Video Album Segment: "What Sarah Said"
Puccini for Beginners Lone Guy At Bistro
2008 Prom Night Detective Nash
2009 The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll Chip Genson
2010 The Next Three Days Harvey "Harv"
2011 The Lie "Weasel"
The Son of No One Thomas Prudenti
2012 Sinister Deputy So-and-So
Starlet Mikey Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Red Hook Summer Kevin
2013 Broken City Todd Lancaster
Empire State Agent Nugent
The Man Who Came Out Only at Night Short film
Oldboy Dr. Tom Melby
Year of the Rat Guy Short film
2014 Electric Slide Jan Phillips
False True Love Video short
This American Life: One Night Only at BAM David Video
Fruits De Mer George Short film
Cymbeline Philario
Kristy Scott
2015 Tangerine Chester
The Timber Wyatt
Bloomin Mud Shuffle Lonnie
Sinister 2 Ex-Deputy So-and-So
Mr. Right Von Cartigan
Conventional Stu Mac 3 Short film
2016 In a Valley of Violence Deputy Gilly Martin
Light Up the Night Joe Short film
2017 It Happened in L.A. Heath
Gemini Stan
The Clapper Darth Guy
Cabiria, Charity, Chastity Anthony, The Strongman Video short
2018 Family Blood Christopher
Write When You Get Work Steven Noble
Doulo Edwin Short film
Tough Love Man Short film
2019 Captive State Patrick Ellison
It Chapter Two Eddie Kaspbrak Shared role with Jack Dylan Grazer
2020 What We Found Steve Mohler
2021 Small Engine Repair P.J.
The Black Phone Max
2023 V/H/S/85 Bobby Segment: "Dreamkill"

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2001 Law & Order Mark Dale Episode: "Deep Vote"
2002 Third Watch Frankie 2 episodes
Ed Gary Morton Episode: "Power of the Person"
2003 The Wire Ziggy Sobotka 12 episodes
2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Zack Capola Episode: "Iced"
2006 Love Monkey Glenn Episode: "The Window"
Law & Order Michael Wayland Episode: "Fame"
2007 Jericho Daryl Episode: "A.K.A."
2008 Generation Kill Corporal Josh Ray Person Miniseries; 7 episodes
2010 How to Make It in America Tim 7 episodes
Burn Notice Dennis Wayne Barfield Episode: "Eyes Open"
2011 Hawaii Five-0 Johnny D. / Perry Hutchinson Episode: "Ne Me'e Laua Na Paio"
Treme Nick 10 episodes
2013 Low Winter Sun Damon Callis Main cast
2016 Bosch Eddie Arceneaux 8 episodes
2018 Mosaic Michael O'Connor 6 episodes
The First Nick Fletcher Main cast
Deadwax Scotty Episode: "Part One"
2020 50 States of Fright Sebastian Klepner 2 episodes
SEAL Team Reiss Julian 5 episodes

Theater

[edit]
Year Title Role Venue Company Notes
2013 Small Engine Repair Packie Lucille Lortel Theatre MCC Theater

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Alvarez, Rafael; Simon, David (2009). The Wire: Truth Be Told. Canongate Books. ISBN 978-1-84767-598-9.
  2. ^ Hooley, Danny (August 1, 2008). "TV Eye: Actor James Ransone on 'Generation Kill'". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2011.
  3. ^ Robinson, John (September 26, 2009). "Killing yourself to live". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b Sapienza, Ethan (October 19, 2016). "Baltimore's Son". Interview.
  5. ^ a b Barshad, Amos (July 14, 2015). "From Ziggy to Stardust: How James Ransone Shed His Iconic 'Wire' Character and Broke Out". Grantland.
  6. ^ Ransone, James [@jamesransone] (May 17, 2021). "as long as we are airing out dirty laundry (sorry I have to do this here)..." Retrieved August 28, 2021 – via Instagram.
  7. ^ DeVille, Taylor (May 27, 2021). "'The Wire' actor says a Baltimore County educator sexually abused him 29 years ago, and faults the school system's response to his allegations". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  8. ^ "James Ransone: From 115 lb. Heroin Addict to Indie Hero". WordPress. December 2, 2009.
  9. ^ Witzke, Craig. "Obituary for James Finley Ransone". Candle Light Funeral Home. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  10. ^ McCarthy, Todd (September 5, 2002). "Review: 'Ken Park'". Variety. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin (November 17, 2010). "Ransone answers 'Treme's' siren call". Variety.
  12. ^ DeFore, John (March 17, 2012). "Starlet: SXSW Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  13. ^ Ausiello, Michael (August 14, 2012). "Pilot Scoop: Jericho's Lennie James Joins AMC Drama Pilot Low Winter Sun". TVLine. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  14. ^ Yamato, Jen (June 3, 2014). "James Ransone Joins Blumhouse Western 'In A Valley Of Violence'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  15. ^ Yamato, Jen (June 19, 2014). "'Starlet's Sean Baker Sets 'Tangerine' With The Duplass Brothers Exec Producing". Deadline Hollywood.
  16. ^ Yamato, Jen (August 13, 2014). "'Sinister 2' Sets Shannyn Sossamon & James Ransone As Leads". Deadline Hollywood.
[edit]