Jay Huguley

James S. "Jay" Huguley (born July 26, 1966) is an American TV, film and theater actor, best known for starring as Whit Peyton in the Emmy Award-winning ABC TV series, Brothers & Sisters and as Will Branson in the third and fourth seasons of HBO’s critically acclaimed drama, Treme, with Melissa Leo, John Goodman and Steve Zahn.

Early life

Huguley was born and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey,^[1] the youngest of three boys, to father Arthur W. Huguley, III, a commodities trader and President of Westway Trading Corporation, and mother Katherine McCrae Yarborough Huguley, a housewife.

As a child, Huguley attended boarding school and later graduated from The Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey. In college, he spent a year abroad at The University of London studying Political Science. Huguley graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., with a double major in Political Science and Communications.

Huguley studied acting at The Lee Strasberg Institute in New York, New York, under Anna Strasberg, and at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in Los Angeles, under the noted teacher Milton Katselas.

Career

Prior to his professional acting career, Huguley was a fashion model. Following college, he was discovered working as a lifeguard, when someone working in fashion in New York suggested he should try modeling.^[2] Two Polaroids were taken of him, and he was brought into New York City. Soon after. he received a contract with Wilhelmina Models, which sent him to Paris, Milan and Sydney, Australia.

Huguley lived in Paris throughout the early 90s, where he worked as a model for brands like Armani, Valentino, Zegna and Romeo Gigli.

He first realized his passion for acting while taking a directing class in college and auditioned for a school play. He got the part of the Gentleman Caller in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. Huguley moved back to the United States, where he began to work regularly in theatre and studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute. He moved to Los Angeles to do a play directed by Lee’s widow, Anna Strasberg.

In his earliest appearances on television, Huguley starred in small roles on MADtv, Norm, Walker, Texas Ranger, Providence, and Strong Medicine before getting more recurring roles in TV shows such as Summerland, and Alias.

Huguley is best known for playing Whit Peyton on the ABC drama, Brothers & Sisters, and Will Branson in the third and fourth seasons of HBO’s Treme. He also starred in 2010 as Richard Hightower on the long-running soap opera, The Young and The Restless. Most recently, he guest-starred in episodes of Drop Dead Diva, Breaking In, and Army Wives.

In 2008, Huguley starred in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Tony Award-winning play Rabbit Hole at the Skylight Theatre. About his performance, the Los Angeles Times said, "Jay Huguley dwells inside the play’s contradictions and connects us to its anguished, buoyant heart." In 2009, Huguley played the lead role of Henry in Tom Stoppard’s "The Real Thing" at Los Angeles’ Skylight Theatre.

Huguley can currently be seen opposite Melissa Leo, John Goodman, and Steve Zahn, in the third and fourth seasons Treme. He also has recurring roles on ABC Family's "Ravenswood" and the CW's "Star-Crossed."

He also appeared in Steve McQueen’s film 12 Years a Slave, starring Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, and Paul Giamatti. He will also soon be seen in the upcoming American television drama series on HBO, True Detective, with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. He's currently in talks to appear in Joe’s Mountain, with Kris Kristofferson and Helen Hunt.

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jay Huguley.

• Jay Huguley at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile on TV Guide