J. August Richards

Happy Birthday J. August !

More photos here : J. August Richards - 2002 Photoshoot - High Resolution Photos

Birth name : Jaime Augusto Richards III

Nickname : Jay

Height : 6’ 4" (1.93 m)

Trivia :

Lived with actress Tangi Miller (2001-2003).

Says that his mother didn’t want him to become an actor; instead, she had hopes of him becoming a lawyer or a priest. In the final season of Angel, Gunn got a special brain spell and became a top Wolfram & Hart lawyer.

Quotes :

"It is kind of grandiose, isn’t it? I changed my name at 14 because no one outside of my family could pronounce my first name correctly. My parents are from Panama, and so there’s a primary AND a secondary stress on my first name, Jaime, so it sounds like HIGH-MAY. And my middle name is actually Augusto [Ah-GOOS-toe], so that’s tough too. The funny thing is, I have so many nicknames that no one calls me by my given name anyway. Still, I have thought about changing it just to Jay Richards." - Jay in an interview with EW. (regarding his given name)

[on his role as Charles Gunn on "Angel":] "What’s ironic is that I don’t think race ultimately had anything to do with me getting the part. When I auditioned, I heard that they were looking at white guys, Latino guys, Asian guys, so they didn’t know where they were going with it."

[on his role as Charles Gunn on "Angel":] "I don’t think my parents were too happy when I announced that I wanted to be an actor. And then when I told them I was starring in a show about vampires, they were like, ’Couldn’t you at least get a role as a nice lawyer or something.’ My Mom always wanted me to be a lawyer or a priest. I think they were a little bit surprised by my career choice." [March 18, 2003]

[on his role as Charles Gunn on "Angel":] "When I change my lines, I just deliver them and wait for their reaction. I just kind of ad-lib sometimes and they’ll pull me back or they’ll just let it go. When they have a problem with it, they tell me. It’s not that I have to change much, because they usually get it right. I’m glad they don’t dumb him down and make him say stupid things." [March 18, 2003]

[on his role as Charles Gunn on "Angel":] "Gunn is an activist, a renegade vampire hunter who leads his motley crew of fellow hunters on a personal crusade of execution for reasons that the audience is not yet aware of. He is a tormented soul and a lone ranger, much like Angel, but he has adopted a family of lost and disenfranchised who he will protect at any cost. It’s almost like he’s two people in one, a violent and aggressive warrior, but also someone who desires family and people close to him." [March 18, 2003]

[on his role as Charles Gunn on "Angel":] "Everybody on the set is fantastic and there are so many interesting people. I absolutely love working with David Boreanaz, and Charisma Carpenter I completely adore — she teaches me to dance. She’s definitely one of my favorite people on the set. And Alexis Denisof is such a dynamic actor. He’s phenomenal. There is so much I can see happening to this character [Gunn], it makes me excited to think about all the ways he can branch out. Charles is a fantastic character. I really love his spirit. He’s so pure and clean and unaffected. I love the extent to which he goes to protect the people he loves. I find that fascinating and admirable." [March 18, 2003]

"Gunn, like me, has a James Bond obsession. He would love to be James Bond, and it’s a great role that I would love to be, someday."