Michael Raymond-James

Michael Raymond-James (born Michael Weverstad; December 24, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for playing René Lenier in the first season of the HBO series True Blood, Britt Pollack on the FX series Terriers, Neal Cassidy / Baelfire on the ABC series Once Upon a Time, Mitch Longo on the CBS All Access series Tell Me a Story and Joseph Colombo in Godfather of Harlem.

Early life and education Raymond-James was born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Clarkston High School in 1996, where he was a football and track standout. He started out doing theater and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, with George Loros, Geoffrey Horne and Robert Castle. Following several stage appearances in New York, including The Petrified Forest at the Pantheon Theater, he relocated to Los Angeles.

Career He has guest starred in such series as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Medium, Boston Legal, ER and the season two premiere of Lie to Me. He starred in the FX original series Terriers which was canceled by FX on December 6, 2010 after the first season. Raymond-James also played the role of Rene Lanier on the HBO original series True Blood.

In his feature debut Raymond-James played the best friend of Justin Timberlake's character in Black Snake Moan with Christina Ricci and Samuel Jackson. The actor also starred in Jonny Hirschbein's award-winning short film 'The Fix,' working alongside Robert Patrick and David Paymer. His feature-film credits include 'Moonlight Serenade,' starring as a piano prodigy opposite Academy Award-nominee Amy Adams.

In an episode of The Walking Dead titled "Nebraska", Raymond-James played a young man named Dave, who presents a threat to series protagonist Rick Grimes and his group.

He starred in Once Upon a Time as Neal Cassidy/Baelfire, who is Henry's father as well as Rumpelstiltskin's son and is later revealed to be the grandson of Peter Pan.

In 2020, Raymond-James was cast to play the lead role of Gavin Wolcott in the NBC apocalyptic drama pilot La Brea which was written by David Appelbaum; however, he left the project and was replaced by Eoin Macken. In the 2021-22 season he recurs on Law & Order: Organized Crime as Jon Kosta.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2000 Minor Blues Dill 2006 Black Snake Moan Gill Morton 2010 The Twenty Unknown 2011 Bowman Mickey Short film 2012 Jack Reacher Linsky 2014 Road to Paloma Timmy "Irish" Murphy 2014 The Salvation Paul Delarue 2016 The Finest Hours A.B. Seaman D.A. Brown 2017 Carter & June Carter Jennings 2021 Sweet Girl FBI Detective John Rothman 2021 American Insurrection Gabe 2022 The Integrity of Joseph Chambers Lone Wolf

Television Year Title Role Notes 2003 Line of Fire Threat Episode: "Take the Money and Run" The Handler Mace Episode: "Off the Edge" 2004 ER Mr. Tunny Episode: "Try Carter" North Shore Damien Pruitt Episode: "Meteor Shower" 2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Aaron Colite Episode: "Unbearable" 2006 Boston Legal Kevin Armus Episode: "Ivan the Incorrigible" 2008–2011 True Blood Rene Lenier Main role (Season 1) Guest role (Season 3-4)14 episodes 2009 ER Stuart Moore Episode: "The Family Man" Cold Case John "Shameless" Clark '76 Episode: "Jackals" Lie to Me Gavin Howell Episode: "The Core of It" Life "Tex" Episode: "Canyon Flowers" Last of the Ninth Tommy "Babyface" Leone Television film 2010 Saving Grace Westy Stevenson Episode: "Hear the Birds?" Terriers Britt Pollack 13 episodes 2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Eddie Skinner Episode: "Smoked" 2012 The Walking Dead Dave Episode: "Nebraska" 2015 Sons of Liberty Paul Revere TV miniseries 2012–2016 Once Upon a Time Neal Cassidy / Baelfire 24 episodes 2016 Game of Silence Gil Harris 10 Episodes Lethal Weapon Chad Jackson Episode: "Spilt Milk" 2018 Frontier Fortunato Main role 2018–2019 Tell Me a Story Mitch Longo Main role (Season 1) 2019–2020 Prodigal Son Paul Lazar Recurring role, 3 episodes 2019–2020 Billions Jackie Connerty 3 episodes 2021 Big Sky Blake Kleinsasser 4 episodes 2021 Law & Order: Organized Crime Jon Kosta Recurring role, 3 episodes 2022 See Ranger Main role (Season 3) 2023–present Godfather of Harlem Joseph Colombo Recurring role (Season 3)Main role (Season 4) 2024 FBI: Most Wanted Ethan McPherson Recurring role, 3 episodes