• James Ransone is an American actor and musician.
• He was born in Baltimore, Maryland USA, and is of mixed English, Irish, German, Italian and Swedish descent.
• He is best known for his roles in "Sinister" (2012), "It Chapter Two" (2019), and "The Wire" (2002-2008).
• He is married to Jamie McPhee and they have one son.
• As of early 2023, he has a net worth estimated at $3 million.
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Who is James Ransone?
If you like horror movies, you’ve probably seen characters such as Deputy from “Sinister” or Eddie Kaspbrak from “It Chapter Two”, but did you know that the actor who plays these characters, James Ransone, has over 70 acting credits to his name and is also a musician? He was a bass player in the metal band called Early Man.
To learn more interesting facts about him, his career beginnings, and what’s he up to now, keep on scrolling.
Early life, family, and education
Born James Finley Ransone III on 2 June 1979, his zodiac sign is Gemini. He hails from Baltimore, Maryland USA, holds American nationality, and his ethnicity is of mixed English, Irish, German, Italian and Swedish descent. He is the only child of James Finley Ransone II, and his wife Joyce (nee Peterson).
When it comes to his educational background, James attended George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, a public magnet high school, where he developed his interest in theater and fine arts. Upon matriculating in 1997, he didn’t go to college but enrolled at the School of Visual Arts, in New York City, where he spent a year.
Roles in movies
James made his acting debut as Bodysuit in the 2001 movie “The American Astronaut”, and followed with his role as Tate in the 2002 drama “Ken Park”, then in the following years, James had supporting roles in “Nola” (2003), “A Dirty Shame” (2004), and “The Good Humor Man” (2005).
In 2006, he had a small part as Steve-O in the crime drama “Inside Man”, starring Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, which had 12 award nominations and won five, including the American Film Institute (AFI) Award for Movie of the Year.
Two years later, James was seen as Detective Nash in “Prom Night”, followed by his roles in “The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll” (2009), “The Next Three Days” (2010), and “The Lie” in 2011.
His first lead role finally came in the 2012 horror mystery thriller “Sinister”, playing Deputy, opposite Ethan Hawke and Juliet Rylance. The movie had 14 award nominations and won three. Later that year, James starred as Mikey in the drama “Starlet”, which had 12 award nominations winning six, with James and his co-stars winning the Film Independent Spirit- Robert Altman Award.
In the following year, James was seen in “Broken City”, “Empire State” and “Oldboy”, followed by his role in the 2014 biographic drama “Electric Slide”, based on the true story of furniture salesman Eddie Dodson, who became a bank robber.
It seems that 2015 was a good year for James – he was seen in “Tangerine”, “The Timber”, and “Bloomin Mud Shuffle”, before he was cast to play Ex-Deputy So & So in the sequel “Sinister 2”, which was nominated for the iHorror Award – Best Horror Remake/Sequel, and later that year in “Mr. Right” and “Fun Size Horror: Volume Two”.
Next, James co-starred in the 2016 western drama “In a Valley of Violence”, followed by roles in “It Happened in L. A.” (2017), “Write When You Get Work” (2018), and “Captive State” (2019), among others.
Later in 2019, he was cast to play his most notable movie role to date, as Eddie Kaspbark in the horror “It Chapter Two”. His performance brought him a nomination for the Broadcast and Media (BAM) award for Best Actor, while with the rest of the crew, James shares the BAM award for Best Cast, and Fright Meter Award for Best Ensemble Cast.
Most recently, James was seen in “What We Found” (2020), followed by his roles in the 2021 movies “Small Engine Repair” and “The Black Phone”.
Roles in series
James made his first television series appearance as Gary Morton in the series “Ed” in 2002, followed by his role as Frankie in two episodes of the series “Third Watch”, later that year.
James’ first notable television series role came in the following year, when he was cast to play Chester ‘Ziggy’ Sobotka in the crime drama “The Wire”, which had 54 award nominations, including two for Primetime Emmys, and won 16 – the audience rated the series 9.3/10.
James followed with a few guest roles in series such as “Law & Order” (2006) and “Jericho” (2007), before he was cast as Josh Ray Person in the 2008 TV mini-series “Generation Kill”, also starring Alexander Skarsgard and Lee Tergesen, which had 22 award nominations and won 13, including three Primetime Emmys. James won the Online Film & Television Association (OFTA) Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries.
In 2010 and 2011, James was seen as Tim in “How to Make It in America”, followed by his role as Nick in the series “Treme” (2011-2012). Next, he was seen as Damon Callis in the 2013 series “Low Winter Sun”, co-starring with Mark Strong and Lennie James. It was a crime drama that followed the story of corruption, revenge, and deception, which starts with the murder of Frank Agnew, a Detroit detective killed by his fellow cop. The series had no nominations, but the audience rated it 7.0/10.
Two years later, James played Eddie Arceneaux in the series “Bosch”, followed by his role as Michael O’Connor in “Mosaic” (2017-2018). Most recently, he was seen in “50 States of Fright” and “SEAL Team” in 2020.
Love life and wife
As with many celebrities, James too has been the subject of various rumors about his love life. It’s known that he was in a relationship with Chloe Sevigny back in 2008, before he met his future wife, Jamie McPhee. Nothing is known about her, and since they both prefer to keep their personal matters secret, their wedding date is also undisclosed; even though they became parents in June 2021, when Jamie gave birth to their son, his name they haven’t shared either.
As of January 2023, James and his wife are living in New York City, raising their son together.
What is he doing now?
It seems that James took a brief break from acting and devoted his time to the family, if we can judge by his Instagram account posts.
Perhaps you didn’t know that before his role in the horror “It Chapter Two”, James almost quit acting. He told to IndieWire that he wasn’t happy with some things happening in the business, and that he thought about going back to school to study theology.
Age, height, and net worth
James is 43 years old; he has black hair and brown eyes, and if you’ve wondered how tall James is, he stands at the height of 5ft 9ins (1.75m), and his weight’s around 145lbs (63kgs).
By the age of 27, James was a drug addict, and was over $30,000 in debt. He has remained clean since 2006. According to sources, as of early 2023, he has a net worth estimated at $3 million.
