James Roday Rodriguez - Wikipedia

American actor (born 1976) "James D. Rodriguez" redirects here. For other uses, see James Rodríguez (disambiguation).

James Roday Rodriguez
Rodriguez at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con
Born	James David Rodriguez (1976-04-04) April 4, 1976 (age 49)San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Other names	James Roday(professional name 1998–2020) James Roday Rodriguez(changed legal name)
Alma mater	New York University (BFA)
Occupations	Actor director screenwriter
Years active	1999–present
Partner	Maggie Lawson (2006–2013)

James Roday Rodriguez (born James David Rodriguez; April 4, 1976) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for portraying Shawn Spencer, a hyper-observant consultant detective and fake psychic, in USA Network series Psych and the subsequent Psych film series. He also starred in A Million Little Things which debuted in 2018, playing Javier "Gary" Mendez.

Early life

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Rodriguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, as James David Rodriguez.[1] His father, James "Jim" Rodriguez, a retired Air Force master sergeant.[2][3], is of Mexican descent. His mother, Deborah Collins, has English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.

He attended Taft High School in San Antonio[4] and studied at NYU TISCH's Experimental Theatre Wing, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.[5]

Stage Name

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At the age of 22, Rodriguez selected the professional name James Roday. In a July 2020 interview,[6] he explained the decision was mainly driven by producers and casting directors feeling his appearance clashed with his Latino family name. The characters he read for up until that point were not written with a Latino background in mind. In order to book his first job, he legally changed his middle name, David, to Roday (picked from an Anton Chekhov play he was starring in at the time), and omitted Rodriguez from his screen name. In the same interview, he stated regret that he "sold out [his] heritage in about 15 seconds."

Rodriguez announced in that interview that going forward, he would use his full legal name of James Roday Rodriguez.

Career

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Theatre

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Rodriguez first decided to make acting his fulltime career in high school, where he was part of the theatre department run by James Buchanan, who would later become co-founder of the Communications Arts High School.[7] Rodriguez cites Buchanan as "the architect behind [his] love for art and the belief [he] could make a run at making it for a living". While at Taft, he became a UIL State Champion, being named best actor for his performance in the play The Elephant Man.[8]

On Buchanan's advice, Rodriguez went on to study at NYU, where he starred in various theatrical productions, including Three Sisters, A Respectable Wedding, and Severity's Mistress.

In 1999, Rodriguez co-produced a production of Henry V at the Mazer Theatre in New York City, starring Brad Raider whom he had attended NYU with. Afterward, the two friends founded Red Dog Squadron, a non-profit, Los Angeles-based theater company, both acting as co-artistic directors. With his company, Rodriguez produced several plays, the most recent of which was CAL IN CAMO in 2018. In addition to his producing capacity, he took on leading roles in Sexual Perversity in Chicago and Extinction (which had runs in both Los Angeles and off-Broadway in New York), wrote and directed the one-act play Sustenance, and directed the play Greedy.[9]

In December 2016, Rodriguez starred in the New York production of White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour.[10]

Rodriguez is a member of the board of trustees at the Legacy Theatre in Branford, Connecticut[11], which was co-foundeed by Keely Baisden Knudsen, a fellow NYU graduate.

For the Legacy Theatre, Rodriguez produced the world premiere of Laurence Davis's play Masters of Puppets in 2023. In 2024, Rodriguez and Baisden Knudsen co-starred in a performance of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters. In 2025, Rodriguez led a sold-out run of “the funniest farce ever written,” Noises Off.

1999-2005 Big screen and television beginnings

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Rodriguez's big screen debut was in the 1999 film Coming Soon alongside Gaby Hoffmann, Bonnie Root, Ryan Reynolds and Ashton Kutcher.

Other early film credits include the 2003 film Rolling Kansas and the 2005 film adaptation of The Dukes of Hazzard.

Rodriguez's early television credits include starring roles in 2001's First Years and NBC's Miss Match in 2003.

Behind the scenes, he and high school friend/writing partner Todd Harthan wrote a sequel script to April Fools Day, which "gained momentum" but was never produced.[12] Together with James DeMonaco, Rodriguez and Harthan went on to write the screenplay for the 2006 film Skinwalkers and also worked on an unused script for the film adaptation of the video game Driver.[12]

2006–Present: Psych franchise

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Rodriguez's big break came on July 7, 2006, with the series premiere of USA Network's original series Psych. Airing following the season premiere of USA's other comedic success, Monk, it was the highest-rated scripted basic cable TV show premiere of 2006.[13] Psych ran for eight seasons until 2014.

In 2017, Rodriguez returned to his most famous role in Psych: The Movie, which he also executive produced and co-wrote with Psych's series creator Steve Franks. It aired on USA Network in December 2017.

A sequel, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, debuted July 15, 2020 on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock.[14][15] It was the first project crediting him as James Roday Rodriguez. Psych 3: This Is Gus was released on Peacock on November 18, 2021.[16] On both projects, he once again served as co-writer and executive producer.

As of May 2023, the script for a fourth Psych movie is done but has not been greenlit yet.[17]

Post-Psych

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After Psych the series ended, Rodriguez starred in various pilots and independent films, most notably Pushing Dead by independent filmmaker Tom E. Brown, which accumulated a number of awards at film festivals in the US and elsewhere.[18]

In 2018, Rodriguez returned to network television, starring as Gary Mendez on ABC's dramedy A Million Little Things, which ran for 5 seasons. He co-wrote the series' final episode, "One Big Thing", with series creator DJ Nash.

Rodriguez branched out into voice acting in the 2021 animated feature Night of the Animated Dead, an adaptation of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead.

Focus on directing and writing

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Since Psych, Rodriguez has spent more time behind the camera as a director, writer and producer. He directed episodes for Battle Creek, Rush Hour, Rosewood, Blood Drive, The Resident, The Crossover and High Potential. He also developed, wrote, and directed the pilots Shoot the Moon for USA and Quest for Truth for E!.

Rodriguez released his first feature directorial debut, Gravy, in 2015, co-written by him and Todd Harthan. He co-wrote (once again with Todd Harthan) and directed his second film Treehouse as part of Hulu's monthly horror movie anthology Into the Dark, which aired in March 2019.

Rodriguez and Harthan most recently co-wrote the first movie in a planned trilogy, The Rule Of Three, based on a novel by the same name written by Sam Ripley. Filming started in January 2026, with an as of yet unknown release date.[19]

in 2025, Rodriguez published his first short story titled "The Long Straw" in the fantasy and horror anthology magazine Weird Tales, issue #371.[20]

Personal life

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Rodriguez dated his Psych co-star Maggie Lawson throughout most of the series run. They broke up in 2013 before the final season aired, for undisclosed reasons.[21]

Filmography

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Actor

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Coming Soon	Chad
	Ryan Caulfield: Year One	Vic	Series regular
2000	Believe	Bruce Arm / Agent Johnny	Short
	Get Real	Trent Sykes
2001	First Years	Edgar	Series regular
2002	Repli-Kate	Max	Lead
	Providence	Alexander Conrad
	Showtime	'Maxis' Cameraman
	Rolling Kansas	Dick Murphy
2003	Miss Match	Nick Paine	Series regular
2005	Don't Come Knocking	Mickey, First Assistant Director
	The Dukes of Hazzard	Billy Prickett
2006	Beerfest	German Messenger
2006–14	Psych	Shawn Spencer	Also writer, director, and producer 2009–2014
2008	Fear Itself	Carlos	Episode: "In Sickness and in Health"
2009	Gamer	News Co-Host #1
	His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th	Himself	Documentary
2011	WWE Tough Enough	Himself	Episode: "I've Been Bamboozled & Flabbergasted"
	Love Bites	Jeff	Episode: "TMI"
2012	WWE Raw Super Show	Himself	Special guest ring announcer
2013	Mr. Payback	Malikai	Short
2015	Gravy	Marty	Also director and co-writer
	Good Session	Joel	Pilot, lead
	Christmas Eve	B	a.k.a. Stuck
	Baby Baby Baby	J.B.
	The Nerd Herd	Kip Mitchell	Pilot, lead
2016	Pushing Dead	Dan Schauble	Lead
2017	Psych: The Movie	Shawn Spencer	TV film, also co-writer and executive producer
2018–23	A Million Little Things[22]	Gary Mendez	Series regular
2018	Fortune Rookie[23]	Roday	Recurring
2019	Buddy Games	Zane
	Berserk	Officer Duane
2020	Psych 2: Lassie Come Home	Shawn Spencer	TV film, also co-writer and executive producer
2021	Psych 3: This Is Gus
2023	Buddy Games: Spring Awakening	Zane

Director

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Year	Title	Notes
2009–14	Psych	8 episodes, also lead actor and occasional writer
2014	Shoot the Moon[24]	Unaired pilot, also writer
2015	Gravy	Also actor and co-writer
	Battle Creek	Episode 1x12
	Quest for Truth	Unaired pilot, also co-writer
2015–16	Rosewood	5 episodes
2016	Rush Hour	Episode 1x10
2017	Blood Drive	Episodes 1x3 and 1x4
2018–19	The Resident	Episodes 1x5, 1x12 and 1x13
2019	Treehouse	Also co-writer
2023	The Crossover	Episodes 1x2 and 1x3
2024–present	High Potential	Episodes 1x7, 1x13, 2x1, and 2x2
2026	The Rule Of Three	In production

Writer

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Year	Title	Notes
2002	The Driver	Unused first draft, co-written with James DeMonaco and Todd Harthan
2006	Skinwalkers	Co-written with James DeMonaco and Todd Harthan
2006–14	Psych	16 episodes, co-written with various others
2014	Shoot the Moon[24]	Unaired pilot
2015	Quest for Truth
	Gravy	Co-written with Todd Harthan
2017	Psych: The Movie	Co-written with Steve Franks
2019	Treehouse	Co-written with Todd Harthan
2020	Psych 2: Lassie Come Home	Co-written with Steve Franks and Andy Berman
2021	Psych 3: This Is Gus	Co-written with Steve Franks
2023	A Million Little Things	Episode 5x13, co-written with DJ Nash
2026	The Rule Of Three	Co-written with Todd Harthan; in production

Awards and nominations

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Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2006	Satellite Awards	Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical	Psych	Nominated
2008	NCLR ALMA Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Television Series		Nominated	[25]
	Online Film & Television Association	Best Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2009	EWwy Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated	[26]
	NCLR ALMA Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Imagen Awards	Best Actor – Television		Nominated	[27]
	Online Film & Television Association	Best Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2010	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series	Psych (for episode "High Top Fade Out", shared with Saladin K. Patterson)	Nominated	[28]
2011	NCLR ALMA Awards	Favorite TV Actor – Leading Role	Psych	Nominated
	Imagen Awards	Best Actor – Television		Nominated	[27]
2012	NCLR ALMA Awards	Favorite TV Actor – Leading Role		Nominated
	Imagen Awards	Best Actor – Television		Won	[29]
2023	HCA TV Awards	Best Writing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Drama Series	A Million Little Things (for episode 5x13 One Big Thing, shared with DJ Nash)	Nominated	[30]
2023	Humanitas Prize	Drama Teleplay	A Million Little Things (for episode 5x13 One Big Thing, shared with DJ Nash)	Nominated	[31]
2023	3rd Astra TV Awards	Best Writing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Drama	A Million Little Things (for episode 5x13 One Big Thing, shared with DJ Nash)	Nominated

References

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1. ^ Hernandez, Lee (October 12, 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Psych' Star James Roday Explains Why He Changed His Latino Last Name for Hollywood". Latina. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
2. ^ Hernandez, Lee. "EXCLUSIVE: 'Psych' Star James Roday Explains Why He Changed His Latino Last Name for Hollywood". Latina. Archived from the original on 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
3. ^ "'Psych' star James Roday on life, family in Waxahachie". Waxahachietx.com. 2012-02-29. Archived from the original on 2016-01-17. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
4. ^ Martinez, Kiko. "Psych out". Hispanic Magazine. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
5. ^ Roberts, Robin (August 9, 2007). "Psych's Two Sleuths Reveal Their Poker Faces" Archived 2011-08-09 at the Wayback Machine. TV Guide.
6. ^ "James Roday Details 'Deeply Personal' Decision To Reclaim Birth Name Rodriguez: 'I Want To Be The Most Honest Ally For My Community'". Retrieved 2026-02-08.
7. ^ "Former Communications Arts High School principal passes away". Retrieved 2026-02-08.
8. ^ "UIL State Champion Archives, One-Act Play 1992-93". Retrieved 2026-02-08.
9. ^ "Red Dog Squadron". Retrieved 2026-02-08.
10. ^ "Psych Tony Nominee Micah Stock and PSYCH's James Roday Headed to WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT". October 24, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
11. ^ "Meet the Team". The Legacy Theatre. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
12. ^ a b "The Psychologists Are In with Maggie Lawson and Timothy Omundson (Episode: James Roday Rodriguez & Todd Harthan Join Tim & Maggie)". Retrieved 2026-02-08.
13. ^ "Psych premiere sets basic cable mark". TV.com. Reuters. July 11, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
14. ^ "'Psych: The Movie 2' Confirmed on USA for Late 2019". Archived from the original on 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
15. ^ "Psych: The Movie 2 Is Coming to USA Network Later This Year! - Blog". USA Network. 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
16. ^ Hailu, Salome (9 October 2021). "'Psych 3: This Is Gus' Gets Premiere Date and Trailer (New York Comic Con Roundup)". Variety. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
17. ^ Ausiello, Michael. "Psych 4 Update: 'The Script Is Done'". TVLine. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
18. ^ Pushing Dead (2016) - Awards - IMDb, retrieved 2023-10-27
19. ^ "Thomasin McKenzie's 'The Rule Of Three' Starts Filming in Barcelona in January 2026". Retrieved 2026-02-08.
20. ^ "Weird Tales #371 - An Undead Issue". Weird Tales. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
21. ^ "Me Time with Maggie Lawson (Episode: "James Roday Rodriguez's Me Time is Fantasy Football, His Dogs, and Vodka")". Retrieved 2026-02-08.
22. ^ "A Million Little Things, Cast, Characters and Stars". abc.go.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
23. ^ "About the Rookie". Fortunerookie.net. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
24. ^ a b "James Roday Signs with ICM Partners". Deadline Hollywood. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
25. ^ Dare, Johnny (June 25, 2009). "Interview: James Roday". freejohnnydare.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
26. ^ "Psych, James Roday | Emmys Snubbed Your Comedy Faves? Vote 'em a EWwy!". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
27. ^ a b Foundation, Imagen. "Imagen Awards". Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
28. ^ "NOMINEES FOR 41st NAACP IMAGE AWARDS ANNOUNCED LIVE AT PRESS CONFERENCE BY TAYE DIGGS, MICHAEL STRAHAN, WANDA SYKES, KYLE MASSEY, CHRIS MASSEY, TATYANA ALI AND NAACP EXECUTIVES – Press Room – NAACP". 25 July 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010.
29. ^ "Awards list". www.imagen.org. 2012. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
30. ^ "Hollywood Critics Association Announces the 2023 HCA TV Awards nominations for Broadcast Networks & Cable". hollywoodcriticsassociation.com. 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
31. ^ "The 2023 Humanitas Prize Nominees". humanitasprize.org. 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-08-15. Retrieved 2023-08-15.

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Roday Rodriguez.

• James Roday Rodriguez at IMDb
• USA Network biography of James Roday Rodriguez
• ABC Network biography of James Roday Rodriguez

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