Jamie Kennedy

James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. Kennedy played Randy Meeks in the Scream film series (1996–2000), which saw him as a supporting character in the first and third installments and a lead ensemble member in the second installment. He has also had lead roles in Malibu's Most Wanted, Son of the Mask (2005), Kickin' It Old Skool (2007), Finding Bliss (2009), Trick (2019), and Roe v. Wade (2020). He has had supporting roles in films such as Romeo + Juliet (1996), Enemy of the State (1998), Bowfinger (1999), Three Kings (1999), Boiler Room (2000), Max Keeble's Big Move (2001), and Good Deeds (2012).

In television, Kennedy hosted the WB sketch comedy series The Jamie Kennedy Experiment (2002–2004) and played the roles of Professor Eli James on the CBS series Ghost Whisperer (2008–2010) and Dr. Callahan on the NBC medical comedy-drama series Heartbeat (2016). He has had recurring voice roles on the Fox sitcom The Cleveland Show (2009–2013), the Nickelodeon series Fanboy & Chum Chum (2009–2014), and the Comedy Central sitcom Legends of Chamberlain Heights (2016–2017).

Early life Kennedy was born on May 25, 1970, in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kennedy was raised Catholic. He attended and graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in 1988. After high school, Kennedy began his career as a Hollywood extra.

Career

When Kennedy first arrived in Los Angeles, he became a professional Hollywood extra.

After a few years of struggling, Kennedy was unable to find an agent and worked as a host at Red Lobster. He auditioned for over 80 commercials and could not book one. He then took a job as a telemarketer and learned that he had a talent for selling things. Kennedy then thought that if he could sell anything, "why not sell myself?", becoming his own agent.

Kennedy created a false persona, screen agent "Marty Power", to attract the attention of real agents and managers over the phone, who would later book his performances. He came to prominence in the late 1990s for playing Randy Meeks in the Scream film series. His lead role as Tim Avery in Son of the Mask earned him a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor. He would later voice his experiences with the film on his YouTube channel years after the film's release. The film would also go on to inspire Kennedy to host the 2007 documentary Heckler after feeling hurt by the film's poor reception in which some reviewers attacked him personally.

Kennedy formed a production company called Wannabe Producers, alongside Josh Etting, through which he has produced the shows The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Blowin' Up, The Starlet, and Living with Fran created by David Garrett. Following Malibu's Most Wanted, in which he both wrote and starred, Kennedy co-wrote the MTV show Blowin' Up (2006) featuring his friend, Stu Stone.

Kennedy lent his voice to the videogame ESPN NFL 2K5 as a celebrity adversary with his own football team, the Upper Darby Cheesesteaks. He is also unlockable as a free agent tight end in season mode. His stint as Activision's emcee at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2007, however, drew much criticism not only for his ignorance of the industry, but also for appearing to perform drunk as he insulted the audience. In a video uploaded to YouTube on June 14, 2021, Kennedy claimed that Activision had scrapped his script at the last minute and he was ad-libbing his jokes while suffering from burnout.

While working on his film Malibu's Most Wanted, Kennedy wrote an autobiography titled, Wannabe: A Hollywood Experiment. The book chronicles his life in Hollywood as he attempts to become a star. It gives background on his life and family and quickly dives into his adventures. It tells of such things as Kennedy's living conditions in the Hollywood slums, his dilapidated car, and his kidney issues.

A performer of stand-up comedy, he is also known for his sketch performances on his television reality show, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, which became the WB Network's highest-ranking new show in 2002, but which was cancelled in April 2004 due to falling viewership. In 2006, Jizzy Entertainment released Unwashed: The Stand-Up Special. In 2008, Kennedy released the documentary Heckler, about the plight of stand-up comics versus their often-aggressive audiences. In 2007 and 2017, he made two appearances in Criminal Minds as a cannibal satanist serial killer.

From 2008 to 2010, Kennedy played psychology professor Eli James in the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer. From 2009 to 2013, he was in the TV series, The Cleveland Show, playing Roberta Tubbs' boyfriend.

He also stars in Nicktoons' Fanboy & Chum Chum as Kyle, an insecure boy wizard who loathes the fun-loving Fanboy and Chum Chum, but who secretly yearns for their friendship. In April 2010, sources reported that Kennedy would very likely return to the Scream franchise to star in the fourth installment; however, according to Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson, plans were never made for him to rejoin the franchise, attributing the misinformation to a fabrication by Kennedy.

On December 31, 2012, Kennedy hosted and produced First Night 2013 with Jamie Kennedy, a New Year's Eve television special widely considered one of the worst shows of all time. His film Lost & Found in Armenia, in which he plays an American tourist who ends up in an Armenian village, accused of being a Turkish spy, later opened to select theatres on June 7, 2013. His film Buddy Hutchins, in which Kennedy plays a down-on-his-luck recovering alcoholic, was released in 2015. In 2015, he portrayed Frump in the Colton Tran adventure mystery film Gloom and Beach Patrolman Alex in Allegra Pictures' horror film The Sand. In 2015, he also starred as Travis Welker in Tremors 5: Bloodlines and as Rob in Rivers 9.

Kennedy played NARAL Pro-Choice America founder Larry Lader in the 2020 film Roe v. Wade, which stars a predominantly conservative ensemble cast. In an interview with The Daily Beast, which noted the film depicts Lader as "a shady figure pulling strings from behind the scenes who treats abortions as a money-making operation," Kennedy said he personally supports abortion rights and appeared in the film to perform in a dramatic role that he is not normally offered, and that, "it’s also not fair for people to think that because I’m in a project with them that I’m like that, or that I believe in this stuff."

Personal life

Kennedy dated his Ghost Whisperer co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt from March 2009 to March 2010.

Kennedy supported Spencer Pratt's 2026 Los Angeles mayoral campaign and promoted claims that the election was rigged after Pratt failed to move on past the primary stage and face Karen Bass in the general election. Kennedy referred to the election as a "literal crime scene" and also said "There is no way this is an honest election."

In an August 2026 episode of his podcast, Kennedy spoke about his political views, describing himself as open to evaluating policies across party lines. He said that expressing agreement with Republican or Trump administration positions had led others to label him "MAGA" or a "maggot," and questioned what he called a lack of inclusion on the political left, stating, "How can you say that you're the party of inclusion when you don't include us?" During the episode he also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic response and referenced performing a stand-up show in a parking lot to support a bar affected by lockdown restrictions.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1989 Dead Poets Society Extra Uncredited 1996 Romeo + Juliet Sampson Scream Randy Meeks 1997 Coax Jamie Short film Bongwater Tommy On the Edge of Innocence Luke Canby TV movie Clockwatchers Eddie Sparkler Trent Scream 2 Randy Meeks As Good as It Gets Street Hustler 1998 Stricken Banyon Starstruck George Gordon Flynn The Pass Deputy Jim Banks Soundman Frank's Assistant / Marty (voice) Enemy of the State NSA Agent Jamie 1999 Bowfinger Dave Three Kings Walter Wogaman 2000 Road to Flin Flon Brad Boiler Room Adam Scream 3 Randy Meeks Cameo Bait Agent Blum Amok 2001 Slacker Cats Buckley (voice) TV movie Dr. Dolittle 2 Various (voice) Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Chaka's Production Assistant Max Keeble's Big Move Evil Ice Cream Man Pretty When You Cry Albert Straka 2002 Bug Dwight 2003 Malibu's Most Wanted Brad 'B-Rad' Gluckman Also writer Sol Goode Justin Sax Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle Creepy Guy Uncredited 2005 Son of the Mask Tim Avery / The Mask Dinotopia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone Spazz (voice) 2006 Farce of the Penguins Jamie (voice) 2007 Me & Lee? Joel TV movie Kickin' It Old Skool Justin Schumacher Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular Ghost of Christmas Past TV movie Extreme Movie Mateus Heckler Himself 2009 Finding Bliss Dick Harder Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! Danno Wolfe (voice) 2010 Cafe Dealer 2011 Spring Break '83 BallzackStill Screaming: The Ultimate Scary Movie RetrospectiveHimselfDocumentary film 2012 Bending the Rules Theo Gold The Patriot of America Frank (voice)The Reef 2: High Tide Ronny (voice) Good Deeds Mark Freeze Lost & Found in Armenia Bill 2013 Foreclosed Forrest Hayes 2014 The Hungover Games Justmitch Also writer and producer The After David TV movie Nowhere Safe Kevin Carlisle TV movie Bermuda Tentacles Dr. Zimmern TV movie 2015 Buddy Hutchins Buddy Other Plans Nathan McKeon Tremors 5: Bloodlines Travis B. Welker Video The Sand Alex, Beach Patrol 2016 Drawn of the Dead Adam Simmons (voice) Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House Simon Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le Jerry Heller TV movie 2017 Walk of Fame Hugo 2018 Surviving the Wild Kristopher Spinning Man Ross Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell Travis B. Welker 2019 Trick Dr. Steven 2020 Roe v. Wade Larry Lader Jamie Kennedy: Stoopid Smart Himself 2021 Last Call "Whitey" 2022ScreamPartygoerVoice cameo2023Don't SuckPete2025 Namaka Guy Torino Television Music videos Year Title Artist(s) 2012 "Till I Die" Chris Brown featuring Big Sean and Wiz Khalifa 2020 "Don't Waste My Time" Usher featuring Ella Mai

Discography Blowin' Up (2006)

Awards and nominations