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IMDbPro

James MacDonald(I)

  • Actor
  • Director
  • Writer
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James MacDonald
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James was born in Columbus, Ohio. Since his father was a salesman, the family spent much of James' youth in different cities throughout the Midwest and finally settled down in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. It was there that James' love of theater was born. Encouraged by his high school drama teacher, Vic Passante, James applied to the University of La Crosse, Wisconsin for theatre. As a freshman, James landed the role of Max in Bent, and from there went on to play numerous leading roles in productions at the university. He also started to cultivate his writing and performance skills as a founding member of J. GECKS, a comedy improv troop that toured the state.

After two years at La Crosse, James was accepted into New York City's renowned Circle in the Square Theatre School. The summer after his first year, teacher and director Michael Kahn secured a scholarship for James to attend the Chautauqua Theater Conservatory where James played Kilroy in Camino Real, directed by Mr. Kahn.

A month after graduation from Circle, James landed his first professional acting job as bad boy Blade, on Another World. Despite the fact that the three-month role turned into a series regular, he turned down a two-year contract after being cast in John Hughes' Some Kind of Wonderful. While in Los Angeles, James was cast as the lead in the CBS pilot B-Men, which was immediately picked up and then mysteriously dropped. Apparently the world was not quite ready for teenage bounty hunters.

Missing NYC and the theater, James headed back east, where he continued to hone his acting skills. He became a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and participated in several of their one-act marathons and main stage productions, one of which was the premiere of Joyce Carol Oates' Gulf War. E.S.T produced his one-man show Big Frame Shakin'--which he wrote and performed--and which was then optioned by HBO. The New York Times said of Big Frame: "Macdonald's kaleidoscopic chronicle of growing up in America in the 1970's taps its own touching threnody [as] Macdonald, leads us quietly into his helter-skelter world." Other New York theatre highlights include Man At His Best, at Playwrights Horizons, and over two hundred performances of the Heidi Chronicles on Broadway featuring Mary McDonnell and Brooke Adams.

His favorite regional productions include roles in the Steven Dietz play God's Country, William F. Buckley Jr.'s Stained Glass at the Humana Festival of Louisville and the role of Jack Hunter in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo with Olympia Dukakis at the Whole Theatre.

Since moving back to Los Angeles twenty years ago, he has appeared in dozens of TV series, pilots and feature films, including Uli Edel's Last Exit to Brooklyn, Spike Lee's Malcolm X, John Dahl's Joy Ride, John Woo's Broken Arrow, Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys, Joel Schumacher's Tigerland & Phone Booth, Ron Shelton's Hollywood Homicide, and opposite Jessica Biel in Home of The Brave.

He is the recipient of a Garland Award for writing and creating the lead role of F.W. Murnau in Zoo District's theatrical production of NOSFERATU and a Best Lead Actor award at the FirstGlance Film Fest Hollywood for the indie film Fissure. For James' writing and directorial debut, short film Heavy Lifting, he garnered awards in the categories of Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Actress. The film went on to win Best Picture at the renown NYC PictureStart Film Festival.

Among his L.A. Theatre credits: James appeared at Arcade in the play Bed, written and directed by Michael Patrick King and An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein, directed by Dan Bonnell at the Odyssey Theatre. James has written several plays for the Los Angeles stage, one of which, Slim, a full-length with original music, was produced at Arcade in Culver City. His play The Mickey Tiles Project was work-shopped at the Mark Taper Auditorium in the Downtown Los Angeles Public Library, and his play Bela Lugosi is Dead, which he also directed, was included in the IAMA Theatre Company's IAMAFest. Most recently his play LANCASTER MELODY (featuring his original music) was work-shopped in Ensemble Studio Theatre's annual WinterFest.

James continues to act, write and direct. He shares his life with his wife Karen Rizzo, a writer, their two children, and a giant husky-mix in L.A.'s Highland Park--apparently now the hippest neighborhood in L.A., or so says the Los Angeles Times.
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Photos25

James MacDonald in NCIS: Los Angeles (2009)
James MacDonald
Joy Ride
James MacDonald
James MacDonald
James MacDonald
Sarah Michelle Gellar, James MacDonald, and Kristine Sutherland in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
Mark Harmon and James MacDonald in NCIS (2003)
Robin Tunney, Simon Baker, and James MacDonald in The Mentalist (2008)
James MacDonald
James MacDonald
On the set of Peacemakers

Known for

Christian Slater and John Travolta in Broken Arrow (1996)
Broken Arrow
6.1
  • Park Ranger Baker(as James G. MacDonald)
  • 1996
Volcano (1997)
Volcano
5.5
  • Terry Jasper(as James G. MacDonald)
  • 1997
Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski, and Paul Walker in Joy Ride (2001)
Joy Ride
6.6
  • Local in Nebraska Bar
  • 2001
Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett in Hollywood Homicide (2003)
Hollywood Homicide
5.3
  • Danny Broome
  • 2003

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Drop Off (2023)
    The Drop Off
    • Dad
    • Short
    • 2023
  • The Winchesters (2022)
    The Winchesters
    • Jimmy Mixon
    • Nato
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • Nathan Fillion, Richard T. Jones, Eric Winter, Alyssa Diaz, Melissa O'Neil, and Mekia Cox in The Rookie (2018)
    The Rookie
    • FBI Driving Instructor
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • David Eigenberg, Christian Stolte, Eamonn Walker, Hanako Greensmith, Taylor Kinney, Joe Minoso, Kara Killmer, and Miranda Rae Mayo in Chicago Fire (2012)
    Chicago Fire
    • Assistant Deputy Commissioner Adam Perry
    • TV Series
    • 2021
  • Maurice Benard, Ingo Rademacher, Julie Berman, Steve Burton, Tyler Christopher, Nancy Lee Grahn, Rebecca Herbst, Kelly Monaco, Kirsten Storms, Laura Wright, Dominic Zamprogna, and Chad Duell in General Hospital (1963)
    General Hospital
    • Agent Edward Caldwell
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in True Detective (2014)
    True Detective
    • Major Blevins
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • Mark Harmon, Maria Bello, Wilmer Valderrama, Rocky Carroll, David McCallum, Sean Murray, Brian Dietzen, Emily Wickersham, and Diona Reasonover in NCIS (2003)
    NCIS
    • Admiral Norton Padgett
    • Captain Faul
    • TV Series
    • 2003–2018
  • American Horror Story (2011)
    American Horror Story
    • The Horn
    • TV Series
    • 2018
  • Sweet/Vicious (2016)
    Sweet/Vicious
    • Officer Ballard
    • TV Series
    • 2016–2017
  • What If He Wins (2016)
    What If He Wins
    • Craig
    • 2016
  • Scott Bakula in NCIS: New Orleans (2014)
    NCIS: New Orleans
    • Navy Captain Tom Garrett
    • TV Series
    • 2015
  • Lou Diamond Phillips, Katee Sackhoff, Robert Taylor, Cassidy Freeman, and Adam Bartley in Longmire (2012)
    Longmire
    • Randolph Hale
    • TV Series
    • 2015
  • Jakob Salvati in Little Boy (2015)
    Little Boy
    • Recruitment Sergeant
    • 2015
  • Battle Creek (2015)
    Battle Creek
    • Stevie Venson
    • TV Series
    • 2015
  • Gillian Anderson, Dermot Mulroney, James Lafferty, Rachael Taylor, Lance Gross, Max Schneider, Halston Sage, Stevie Lynn Jones, and Adam Scott Miller in Crisis (2014)
    Crisis
    • Skip
    • TV Series
    • 2014

Director

  • Heavy Lifting (2010)
    Heavy Lifting
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2010

Writer

  • The Drop Off (2023)
    The Drop Off
    • Writer
    • Short
    • 2023
  • What If He Wins (2016)
    What If He Wins
    • Writer
    • 2016
  • Heavy Lifting (2010)
    Heavy Lifting
    • Writer
    • Short
    • 2010

Videos2

James Macdonald Film TV Reel
Demo Reel 8:18
James Macdonald Film TV Reel
Recent TV Reel
Demo Reel 6:51
Recent TV Reel

Personal details

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  • Official site
    • Official Site
  • Alternative names
    • James G. MacDonald
  • Born
    • Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, USA
  • Other works
    (March 1 to April 8, 1989) He played a Skinhead, Farrell, Philips, Savage and Father in Steven Dietz's play, "God's Country," in a Humana Festival production at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky with Jonathan Davison (Boy); Lizbeth Mackay (Mueller); Christopher Wells (Denver Parmenter, Robert Jay Matthews); Andy Backer (David Lane, Halprin); Jonathan Fried (Patrick Connor, Alan Berg, Ruark); David LIttle (Mister Jones, Farmer, Chappel, Peter Lake, Mister Smith): Bob Morrisey (Bruce Pierce, Elliott, Ward, Randall Rader); Edward James Hyland (Gary Lee Yarbrough, Zillah Craig, Student); Joanne Manley (Anath White, Judith Berg) and Mary Boucher (Leatherman) in the cast. Steven Dietz was also director.

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    James is related to the 23rd U.S. President Benjamin Harrison.

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