Biography
Best known for playing crime consultant Shawn Spencer on long-running detective dramedy "Psych" (USA Network, 2006-2014), James Roday also pursued a career as a writer, producer and director largely in the field of horror. Born in San Antonio, TX in 1976, Roday studied at New York University's Experimental Theatre Wing and spent his early career treading the boards, later co-founding his own theater company, the Red Dog Squadron. He made his screen debut in teen rom-com "Coming Soon" (1999) and later that year landed the recurring role of Vic in short-lived crime drama "Ryan Caulfield: Year One" (FOX, 1999). Roday was then cast as Egg in legal drama remake "First Years" (NBC, 2001), the role originated by Andrew Lincoln in the zeitgeist-defining British series, "This Life" (BBC Two, 1996-97) and enjoyed his first leading movie role, playing cloning machine inventor Max in sex farce "Repli-Kate" (2002). After showing up as a cameraman in mismatched buddy cop comedy "Showtime" (2002), Roday starred as divorced T-shirt salesman Dick in stoner road movie "Rolling Kansas" (2003), bagged the recurring role of womanizing lawyer Nick Paine in romantic dramedy "Miss Match" (NBC, 2003) and played stock car driver Billy Prickett in the big-screen adaptation "The Dukes of Hazzard" (2005). Following brief appearance in Wim Wenders' "Don't Come Knocking" (2005) and Broken Lizard comedy "Beerfest" (2006), Roday landed the career-defining role of Shawn Spencer, a super-observant crime consultant who claims to solve cases through mystic powers, in "Psych" (USA Network, 2006-2014). Roday also served as producer for much of its eight-season run, directed and wrote numerous episodes, and later reprised his role in a 2017 TV movie. Roday continued to moonlight behind the camera throughout his career, co-penning the werewolf horror "Skinwalkers" (2006) with Todd Harthan and James DeMonaco, directing multiple episodes of "Rosewood" (FOX, 2015-17), "Blood Drive" (Syfy, 2017) and "The Resident" (FOX, 2018-), and writing, helming and guesting on comedy horror "Gravy" (2015). Roday also appeared as a news anchor in video game adaptation "Gamer" (2009), played J.B. in relationship drama "Baby, Baby, Baby" (2015) and starred as one of six characters trapped in separate lifts in much-maligned festive movie "Christmas Eve" (2015). After earning critical acclaim for his performance as a HIV-positive struggling writer in tough-tackling drama "Pushing Dead" (2016), Roday returned to the small screen to play cancer survivor Gary Mendez in friendship drama "A Million Little Things" (ABC, 2018-).
