Donald Joseph Qualls (born June 10, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in films including Road Trip (2000), The New Guy, (2002) and The Core (2003), and for appearances on television series such as Breaking Bad, Supernatural, Scrubs, Lost, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.[1] He co-starred in the FX comedy series Legit, the Syfy horror series Z Nation and the Amazon Studios show The Man in the High Castle.
DJ Qualls | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Qualls in 2014 | |
| Born | Donald Joseph Qualls June 10, 1978 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Early life
editQualls was born in Nashville, Tennessee, one of five children of Donnie and Janice Qualls. He was raised in Manchester, Tennessee, and attended school in nearby Tullahoma. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age fourteen. After two years of treatment, his cancer was said to be in remission. According to Qualls, the chemotherapy at an early age sped up his metabolism and affected his growth, "It stopped my development," which explains his slender frame.[2][3] After graduating from Coffee County Central High School in 1995, where he was an active member in the Red Raider Band, Qualls attended King's College London, where he studied English literature. He returned to Tennessee, enrolling at Belmont University in Nashville, where he also began acting in a local theater company.[citation needed]
Career
editQualls was an extra in the 1994 HBO film Against the Wall. He landed the small role of Jason in the miniseries Mama Flora's Family (1998) while participating in community theater. After auditioning for a one-liner in Road Trip (2000), he was asked to come from the Atlanta office to meet producer Ivan Reitman in California. He debuted in Road Trip as shy virgin Kyle Edwards.[4] After this, he worked as a model for Prada and photographers such as David LaChapelle and Steve Klein.[5] In Cherry Falls (2000), he played Wally, another virgin. In 2001, he played Neil Lawrence in Chasing Holden.[6] Qualls also appeared as a Y2K prophet opposite Rami Malek in the sci-fi mystery thriller Buster's Mal Heart (2017).
In 2002, Qualls played Archie in the film Comic Book Villains, Andrew in the film Big Trouble, Junior in the film Lone Star State of Mind, Dizzy Gillespie Harrison in the film The New Guy, and Rat in the sci-fi film The Core.[7][unreliable source?] He starred in the comedy Delta Farce. In 2005, he appeared as Shelby in the film Hustle & Flow.[8] His television work includes eccentric hunter Garth Fitzgerald IV on Supernatural and appearances on Monk, Scrubs, Criminal Minds, Lost, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Numb3rs, My Name Is Earl, Breaking Bad, The Big Bang Theory, and Memphis Beat.
Qualls appeared in a cameo in Britney Spears' music video "Boys" (2002) and was also in the "I'm Just a Kid" music video by Simple Plan (2002). He starred in the Paramount Pictures web series Circle of Eight.[9][10] He co-starred on the television series Legit as Billy Nugent, a 33-year-old man with muscular dystrophy.
Personal life
editIn January 2020, Qualls came out as gay on his Twitter account, stating he was "tired of worrying about what it would do to my career,"[11] after announcing it at a Jim Jefferies show in San Diego.[12] Prior to this, he had referenced his sexuality on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in the early 2010s.[13]
Qualls revealed in May 2024 that he is currently in a relationship with fellow Supernatural actor Ty Olsson, and that the two are engaged to be married.[14]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Road Trip | Kyle Edwards | |
| 2000 | Cherry Falls | Wally | |
| 2001 | Chasing Holden | Neil Lawrence | |
| 2002 | Comic Book Villains | Archie | Co-producer |
| 2002 | Big Trouble | Andrew | |
| 2002 | Lone Star State of Mind | Junior | |
| 2002 | The New Guy | Dizzy Gillespie Harrison / Gil Harris | |
| 2003 | The Core | Theodore Donald "Rat" Finch | |
| 2005 | Hustle & Flow | Shelby | |
| 2005 | Little Athens | Cory | |
| 2006 | I'm Reed Fish | Andrew | |
| 2007 | Delta Farce | Private Everett Shackleford | |
| 2008 | Familiar Strangers | Kenny Worthington | |
| 2008 | The Company Man | Guy | Short film |
| 2009 | Road Trip: Beer Pong | Kyle Edwards | |
| 2009 | All About Steve | Howard | |
| 2009 | Circle of Eight | Randall[15] | |
| 2010 | Last Day of Summer | Joe | Executive producer |
| 2010 | Amigo | Zeke | |
| 2011 | Running Mates | Graham "One Ball" Jones | |
| 2011 | 21 & Over | Counselor | |
| 2013 | Small Apartments | Artie | |
| 2013 | Pawn Shop Chronicles | JJ | |
| 2016 | November Rule | Kareem | |
| 2016 | Buster's Mal Heart | Brown/Last Free Man | |
| 2017 | Silence Please! | Douglas | Short film |
| 2018 | Fifty Minutes | Mr. Potter | Short film |
| 2024 | Carved | Hulu release[16] |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Mama Flora's Family | Jason | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Scrubs | Josh | Episode: "My Student" |
| 2005 | Lost | Johnny | Episode: "Everybody Hates Hugo" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Robie Boatman | Episode: "Scared Crazy" |
| 2005 | Criminal Minds | Richard Slessman | Episode: "Extreme Aggressor" |
| 2005 | Punk'd | Himself | Season 6, Episode 7 |
| 2006 | Monk | Rufus / Computer Geek | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward" |
| 2006 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Henry Garden | Episode: "Post-Mortem" |
| 2007 | Numb3rs | Anthony Braxton | Episode: "Primacy" |
| 2007 | My Name Is Earl | Ray-Ray | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | The Big Bang Theory | Toby Loobenfeld | Episode: "The Loobenfeld Decay" |
| 2008 | Good Behavior | Donnie Stryker | Television film |
| 2009 | Breaking Bad | Getz | Episode: "Better Call Saul" |
| 2010 | Memphis Beat | Davey Sutton | 20 episodes |
| 2011–2020 | Supernatural | Garth Fitzgerald IV/Mr. Fizzles | 6 episodes |
| 2013 | Hawaii Five-0 | Marshall Demps | Episode: "Kupouli 'la" |
| 2013 | Perception | Agent Rudy Fleckner | 5 episodes[17] |
| 2013–2014 | Legit | Billy Nugent | Main character (26 episodes) |
| 2014–2018 | Z Nation | Citizen Z | Series regular, 28 episodes |
| 2015–2018 | The Man in the High Castle | Ed McCarthy | Series regular, 30 episodes |
| 2016 | Time Traveling Bong | Future Man | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry | Himself | 1 episodes |
| 2017 | Fargo | Golem | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Creepshow | Clark Willson | 1 episode |
| 2022 | Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities | Jenkins Brown (voice role) | 1 episode |
Music videos
edit| Year | Artist | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Barenaked Ladies | "Pinch Me" | ||
| 2000 | Eels | "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" | Kyle Edwards | Uncredited |
| 2002 | Simple Plan | "I'm Just a Kid" | Dizzy Gillespie Harrison / Gil Harris | Uncredited |
| 2002 | Britney Spears | "Boys" |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 12th Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (shared with the cast) | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ "DJ Qualls Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
- ^ "Hi, Im DJ Qualls. Im an actor from such movie masterpieces as Road Trip, The New Guy, Hustle & Flow, and Sandra Bullock's razzie award winning film, All About Steve. I recur on Supernatural, Perception, and am a regular on the FX series Legit. • r/IAmA". reddit. March 21, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ Abrams, Tamar (August 19, 2010). "DJ Qualls: Putting the "Character" in Character Actor". HuffPost. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- ^ Mark Plante (January 28, 2008). "DJ Qualls Interview for Hustle and Flow". The Cinema Source. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012.
- ^ Steve Head (April 4, 2003). "A Conversation with DJ Qualls". IGN. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- ^ Bonnie Laufer (May 10, 2002). "Star Chat: A conversation with DJ Qualls". Tribute MovieMail Newsletter.
- ^ Bonnie Laufer (March 21, 2003). "Star Chat: A conversation with DJ Qualls". Tribute MovieMail Newsletter.
- ^ Jenny Halper (July 25, 2005). "INTERVIEW: DJ Qualls on "Hustle & Flow"". Cinema Confidential. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011.
- ^ "Finale of Paramount's Circle of Eight Now LIVE!". Dread Central. June 25, 2012.
- ^ Heyman, Jessie (September 26, 2011). "D.J. Qualls Tweets: Beaten By Vancouver Police For No Reason". HuffPost. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- ^ Bollinger, Alex (January 13, 2020). "Actor DJ Qualls comes out as gay". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ^ Qualls, DJ [@TheOnlyDJQualls] (January 10, 2020). "It is 11:20pm. I just came out on stage at a @jimjefferies show in San Diego. Yep, I'm gay. Been gay this whole time. Tired of worrying about what people would think of me. Tired of worrying about what it would do to my career" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "11/12 Visits In Chrono. Order [Mostly HD]". June 9, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Spotify". open.spotify.com. 16:36. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
- ^ "Join Paramount's Circle of Eight". Dread Central. May 23, 2012.
- ^ "Peyton Elizabeth Lee To Star In Hulu's Horror Comedy 'Carved'". movies.mxdwn.com.
- ^ "Exclusive: DJ Qualls Returns to TNT for Perception". TV Guide.