Person · Actor

Jayma Mays

Born

July 16, 1979

From

Bristol, Sullivan County, Tennessee, USA

Also:
Actress

Credits on file

Decades active

In short · Acting since 2000, 3 decades active, 46 credits.

Known for

Ranked by community engagement + sustained interest across this person's credits in our database.

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Biography

Jamia Suzette Mays was born in Bristol, Tennessee to Susan (Norris) and James Mays, and raised in Grundy, Virginia with her older brother and sister. Her father was a high-school teacher at Grundy Senior High School for seven years, before spending 25 years working in the coal-mining industry; now retired, he lives with Jayma's mother in Bristol.At school, Jayma enjoyed math and singing. She graduated from high school in 1997. She then went on to get an Associate degree from Southwest Virginia Community College and went on to a year at Virginia Tech, transferring to Radford University. After earning her degree in Theatre in 2000, she moved to California.She started out with an internship with actor Timothy Busfield, of the television series Thirtysomething (1987). In 2004, she had her screen television debut on Joey (2004). Her first feature film, Red Eye (2005) came the next year. Her breakthrough role came when she won the role of "Emma Pillsbury" on the hit show Glee (2009).