# Jaye Davidson
**Jaye Davidson** (born Alfred Amey, 1968) is an American-born British model, fashion stylist, and retired actor who received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his first screen role, Dil in *The Crying Game* (1992), and played the villain Ra in *Stargate* (1994) before leaving acting.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) • [2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993/B?qt-honorees=1)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and birth | Alfred Amey, born 1968 in Riverside, California, to a Ghanaian father and an English mother; the family moved to England when he was two and a half[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) |
| Breakthrough role | Dil, a London hairdresser and singer, in Neil Jordan's *The Crying Game* (1992); his first dramatic lead[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) |
| Academy Award | Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 65th Academy Awards (1993); the award went to Gene Hackman for *Unforgiven*[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993/B?qt-honorees=1) |
| Second and final lead role | Ra, the sun god villain of *Stargate* (1994), for a fee of $1,000,000[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) |
| Other screen appearances | The TV movie *Jiggery Pokery* (1996) and the short *The Borghilde Project* (2009)[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jaye_davidson) |
| Career after acting | Fashion work including shoots for Italian Vogue with Steven Meisel and a GAP advertisement by Annie Leibovitz; later a fashion stylist in Paris[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) • [4](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/whatever-happened-crying-game-star-jaye-davidson-170059488.html) |
## Early life and discovery
Davidson was born in [Riverside, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/riverside-california), the son of a Ghanaian father and an English mother, and the family left for England when he was two and a half. He grew up in [Hertfordshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/hertfordshire), left school at 16, and worked intermittently at odd jobs, including running for a production company and working in a factory, before finding work in fashion.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) Rotten Tomatoes' profile describes him as raised in the white middle-class surroundings of Hertfordshire, with strikingly delicate, androgynous features.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jaye_davidson)
He had no acting experience and had never considered acting when a casting associate approached him at a wrap party for [Derek Jarman](https://www.edgepedia.org/derek-jarman)'s film *Edward II* (1991). He was working as a fashion designer at the time and took the role for the money.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) Director Neil Jordan later told *The Guardian* that the part of Dil had to go to an unknown, so the production searched the London drag club scene until Jarman suggested Davidson.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/21/how-we-made-the-crying-game-neil-jordan-stephen-rea-miranda-richardson) Jordan's friend [Stanley Kubrick](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-kubrick) had told him that finding the right person for the part, man or woman, was probably impossible.[6](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-crying-game/)
## The Crying Game
*The Crying Game* (1992), written and directed by [Neil Jordan](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-jordan), the Irish writer-director whose earlier films include *Mona Lisa*, casts Davidson as Dil, the London hairdresser and part-time singer loved by a British soldier ([Forest Whitaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/forest-whitaker)) and later by the soldier's IRA captor Fergus ([Stephen Rea](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-rea)).[7](https://time.com/3834823/the-crying-game-movie-review/) The film's celebrated mid-story revelation about Dil's gender became one of the most discussed twists in contemporary film, and Miramax built its marketing campaign around protecting that secret.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-18-ca-292-story.html)
Davidson's performance drew wide praise. Jordan said that "at first Jaye was shaking. But an extraordinary quality came through: an elegance, a sense of inner dignity, an emotional purity."[7](https://time.com/3834823/the-crying-game-movie-review/) The National Board of Review voted him the most auspicious debut of 1992, and he received nominations for the [Academy Award for Best Actor](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-actor) in a Supporting Role and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/awards/) At the 65th Academy Awards in March 1993, the prize went to [Gene Hackman](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-hackman) for *Unforgiven*.[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993/B?qt-honorees=1) The film itself was nominated for Academy Awards including Best Picture, and Neil Jordan won for Original Screenplay.[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993/B?qt-honorees=1)
The nomination created a tension the filmmakers had not wanted: with the film's secret central to its appeal, industry figures worried that publicity around Davidson, including press speculation about his identity, could undercut the movie's momentum.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-18-ca-292-story.html) Davidson himself was media-shy and gave few interviews, sending mixed signals about whether he would attend the Oscar ceremony.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-28-ca-15953-story.html)
## Stargate and the end of acting
Davidson's overnight fame earned him his next major role, the godlike Ra in [Roland Emmerich](https://www.edgepedia.org/roland-emmerich)'s science-fiction film *Stargate* (1994), opposite [James Spader](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-spader) and [Kurt Russell](https://www.edgepedia.org/kurt-russell).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) According to his IMDb biography, his dislike of the attention he received after *The Crying Game* made him reluctant to accept, so he demanded what he expected to be an unacceptable fee of $1 million; the producers paid it.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) The Los Angeles Times review singled him out: "The real hoot here is Jaye Davidson's Ra, with his hermaphrodite airs and flouncy Space-Age get-ups," noting that his voice was electronically altered to sound lower and that "without Davidson 'Stargate' might seem clunky and routine."[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55620-story.html)
After *Stargate* he effectively left film. He appeared in the television movie *Jiggery Pokery* (1996) and later in the short *The Borghilde Project* (2009), and otherwise retired from acting.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jaye_davidson) • [12](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D1000176504.html) Jordan, speaking in 2019, put it plainly: "Very wisely actually, Jaye made one other movie for which he made a ton of money. He then said, 'Look, this is not for me.' He went back to his life."[4](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/whatever-happened-crying-game-star-jaye-davidson-170059488.html)
## Life after acting
Davidson returned to fashion. His credits after the films include shoots with Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue, Michael Roberts for Joseph, and a GAP advertisement photographed by [Annie Leibovitz](https://www.edgepedia.org/annie-leibovitz); he also appeared at fashion events alongside [Kate Moss](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-moss), Naomi Campbell, and [Christy Turlington](https://www.edgepedia.org/christy-turlington).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/) Jordan reported in 2019 that Davidson works as a fashion stylist in Paris and described him as "a very happy man now."[4](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/whatever-happened-crying-game-star-jaye-davidson-170059488.html)
Davidson identifies as gay. During his acting career he said his androgynous look alienated him within the gay community, and in 2017 he married Thomas Clarke.[13](https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/Jaye_Davidson)
## Legacy
*The Crying Game* has remained a reference point in discussions of transgender representation onscreen. The 2020 documentary *Disclosure* treats the film as a landmark that was also damaging in places: director Sam Feder called it "a really beautiful, complicated and political love story" while criticizing the marketing built on Dil's secret and the camera's treatment of the reveal scene, a reaction echoed in later 1994 films such as *Ace Ventura*.[14](https://time.com/5855071/disclosure-netflix-transgender-representation/) Davidson's own screen career, two lead roles in two years followed by retirement, remains one of the briefest among Academy Award-nominated actors, and his performance as Dil is the work he is remembered for.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jaye_davidson)
## References
1. [Jaye Davidson, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/)
2. [The 65th Academy Awards (1993), Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993/B?qt-honorees=1)
3. [Jaye Davidson, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jaye_davidson)
4. [Whatever happened to 'Crying Game' star Jaye Davidson?, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/whatever-happened-crying-game-star-jaye-davidson-170059488.html)
5. [How we made The Crying Game, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/21/how-we-made-the-crying-game-neil-jordan-stephen-rea-miranda-richardson)
6. [The Crying Game (1992), Deep Focus Review](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-crying-game/)
7. [Queuing For The Crying Game, TIME](https://time.com/3834823/the-crying-game-movie-review/)
8. [The Secret of 'The Crying Game', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-18-ca-292-story.html)
9. [Jaye Davidson, Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/awards/)
10. [JAYE DAVIDSON WATCH, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-28-ca-15953-story.html)
11. [Davidson Out of This World in 'Stargate', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55620-story.html)
12. [30 ans après Stargate, que devient Jaye Davidson ?, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D1000176504.html)
13. [Jaye Davidson, LGBT History Project](https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/Jaye_Davidson)
14. [9 Moments That Show the Pain and Progress of Transgender Representation Onscreen, TIME](https://time.com/5855071/disclosure-netflix-transgender-representation/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames C to D*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license