Film & TV
Michael Raymond-James
born 1977 · actor
Detroit-born actor of True Blood, Terriers and Once Upon a Time, a 1996 graduate of Clarkston High School.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 48- Birth name
- Michael Weverstad
- Detroit years
- 1977–1996
- Field
- Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Michael Raymond-James was born Michael Weverstad in Detroit and grew up in Clarkston in northern Oakland County, where he was a standout in football and track at Clarkston High School before graduating in 1996. He later moved to Los Angeles to act. His breakthrough came in the first season of HBO's True Blood as René Lenier, the seemingly friendly Cajun whose secret drives the season's murder mystery. He then starred as the ex-con Britt Pollack in the FX series Terriers and played Neal Cassidy, the grown-up Baelfire, in ABC's Once Upon a Time. Later roles include Mitch Longo in Tell Me a Story and the real-life mobster Joseph Colombo in Godfather of Harlem.
Highlights
- René Lenier in the first season of HBO's True Blood (2008)
- Britt Pollack in FX's Terriers (2010)
- Neal Cassidy / Baelfire in ABC's Once Upon a Time
- Joseph Colombo in Godfather of Harlem
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1992–1996
Clarkston High School
Oakland County public high school where Raymond-James starred in football and track before graduating in 1996.