James Duval
American actor (born 1972)
title: "James Duval" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1972-births", "living-people", "american-male-film-actors", "male-actors-from-los-angeles", "male-actors-from-detroit", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "21st-century-american-male-actors", "american-actors-of-vietnamese-descent", "american-musicians-of-vietnamese-descent", "american-people-of-french-descent", "american-people-of-irish-descent"] description: "American actor (born 1972)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Duval" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actor (born 1972) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | James Duval 2011.jpg |
| caption | Duval in 2011 |
| name | James Duval |
| birth_name | James Edward Duval |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| occupation | Actor |
| yearsactive | 1993–present |
| :: |
| image = James Duval 2011.jpg | caption = Duval in 2011 | name = James Duval | birth_name = James Edward Duval | birth_date = | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Actor | yearsactive = 1993–present James Edward Duval (born September 10, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in Independence Day (1996), Donnie Darko (2001), and the films of Gregg Araki.
Career
Duval has starred in numerous independent films, including the 2009 psychological thriller The Black Waters of Echo's Pond and the mystery crime-thriller film Noirland.
Personal life
Born in Detroit in 1972 to a Franco-Vietnamese mother from Saigon and a father with Irish and Native American ancestry, Duval's family moved to Los Angeles when he was 2 years old. He grew up around the Greater Los Angeles area, going to elementary school in Redondo Beach before graduating from Gladstone High School in Covina in 1989. During his early career, while he was acting in Gregg Araki's Teenage Apocalypse films, he identified with their themes of nihilism, social alienation and not fitting in. He said, "I was 18 and living that, searching for myself who I was, where I belonged. I was really confused. Working with Gregg gave me something to move towards. ... there were things I was feeling—that I wasn’t liked, that there were things I couldn’t do to fit in. I was attracted to alternative music and feeling what they were singing about, even though I hadn’t really lived. I was so distraught. I was only 18–19. Everything weighed on that on a daily basis. It was so intense, and almost overwhelming."
In a 1997 interview promoting Araki's Nowhere, Duval discussed the racism he experienced in his youth and his frustration with being asked about his sexuality as a result of playing queer roles. He also mentioned that he was dating his Nowhere co-star Sarah Lassez.
Filmography
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | An Ambush of Ghosts | Student #1 | |
| Totally F***ed Up | Andy | ||
| 1995 | The Doom Generation | Jordan White | |
| 1996 | Independence Day | Miguel Casse | |
| 1997 | River Made to Drown In | Jaime | |
| Nowhere | Dark Smith | ||
| 1998 | Wild Horses | Jimmy | |
| Stamp and Deliver | |||
| The Clown at Midnight | George Reese | ||
| Alexandria Hotel | Romero | ||
| How to Make the Cruelest Month | Westy | ||
| SLC Punk! | John the Mod | Credited as Jimmy Duval | |
| 1999 | Go | Singh | |
| The Weekend | Robert | ||
| 2000 | This Is How the World Ends | Blue | TV show |
| Gone in 60 Seconds | Freb | ||
| 2001 | Amerikana | Chris | |
| Donnie Darko | Frank Anderson | ||
| The Doe Boy | Hunter Kirk | Won "Best Actor" at the American Indian Film Festival | |
| The Tag | Viggs | ||
| A Galaxy Far, Far Away | Himself | ||
| 2002 | Comic Book Villains | Baz | |
| May | Blank | ||
| Scumrock | Drew | ||
| 2003 | Pledge of Allegiance | Ray | |
| 2004 | Window Theory | Dave Kordelewski | |
| Frog-g-g! | Freb | ||
| Open House | Joel Rodman | ||
| 2005 | Venice Underground | Lucious Jackson | |
| Chasing Ghosts | Dmitri Parramatti | ||
| Standing Still | Stoner Steve | ||
| 2006 | The Iron Man | Lawyer 2 | |
| Mad Cowgirl | Thierry | ||
| Pancho and Lefty | Lefty | ||
| 2007 | Kush | Cyrus | |
| Numb | Caleb | Short film | |
| The Pacific and Eddy | Noel | ||
| Luck of the Draw | Grady | ||
| 2008 | The Art of Travel | Taylor "One Ball" | |
| Pox | Himself | ||
| Toxic | Brad | ||
| Cornered! | Jimmy | ||
| Evilution | Asia Mark | ||
| 2009 | Thirsty | Beverage Announcer | Voice role |
| 2 Dudes & a Dream | Phil | ||
| Penance | Guy | ||
| The Black Waters of Echo's Pond | Rick | ||
| 2010 | Now Here | Luis Ortiz | |
| Everything Will Happen Before You Die | Paynie | ||
| Caller ID | Miles | ||
| Closing Time | Jimmy | ||
| Noirland | Tiberius Malloy | ||
| Playback | Clark | ||
| Kaboom | Messiah | ||
| 2011 | Naked Angel | Andreas | |
| Alyce Kills | Vince | ||
| Not Another Not Another Movie | Himself | ||
| 2012 | Delirium | Burell | |
| Touchback | Rodriguez | ||
| 2013 | Look at Me | Frank | |
| Blue Dream | Robert Harmon | ||
| 2014 | Hercules Reborn | Horace | |
| 2015 | Punk's Dead | John The Mod | |
| The Sparrows | Hector Sanchez | ||
| Tales of Halloween | Dante | ||
| 2016 | American Romance | Stewart Miles | |
| 2017 | The Abduction of Jennifer Grayson | Jeremy | |
| Spreading Darkness | Mark Minscourri | ||
| 2018 | BoJack Horseman | Studio Grip | Episode: "The Dog Days Are Over" |
| 2019 | Now Apocalypse | Homeless man | Recurring |
| 2022 | Without Ward | Helmholtz W. Gault | |
| I, Challenger | Sid | ||
| :: |
References
References
- Pevos, Edward. (March 21, 2022). "Talking with ‘Donnie Darko’ actor James Duval on his Michigan roots".
- McAndrews, Mary Beth. (October 16, 2024). "'Teen Apocalypse' Trilogy Star James Duval On Working With Gregg Araki and Shaping Cinema".
- Witbrodt, Cathy L.. (2004-05-27). "James Duval: staying true to indie roots". YouthQuake.
- (2010-03-04). "New One-Sheet: The Black Waters of Echo's Pond / Theatrical Screening Info". Dreadcentral.com.
- (2010-04-15). "James Duval Heads to ''Noirland''! First Teaser and Images". Dreadcentral.com.
- Kramer, Gary M.. (2023-04-07). "Q&A: Gregg Araki and James Duval revisit ''The Doom Generation''". [[Gay City News]].
- Woods, Cat. (2022-11-23). "James Duval reflects on Gregg Araki's ''The Doom Generation'' ahead of Sundance celebration". Flicks.
- -->, Jil. (1997). "An Actor Who's Going Somewhere Fast: James Duval Sizzles Up the Screen in Gregg Araki's new ''Nowhere'' <!--". Fuel.
- {{IMDb name. 1166
- Barton, Steve. (March 6, 2015). "Jared Black's Delirium FINALLY Hitting DVD".
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