Michael Raymond-James

Michael Raymond-James (born Michael Weverstad; December 24, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for playing René Lenier in the first season of the HBO series True Blood, Britt Pollack on the FX series Terriers, Neal Cassidy/Baelfire on the ABC series Once Upon a Time, and Mitch Longo on the CBS All Access series Tell Me a Story. Life and career Raymond-James was born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated Clarkston High School in 1996, where he was a football and track standout. He started out doing theater and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, with George Loros, Geoffrey Horne and Robert Castle. Following several stage appearances in New York, including The Petrified Forest at the Pantheon Theater, he relocated to Los Angeles. He has guest starred in such series as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Medium, Boston Legal, ER and the season two premiere of Lie to Me. He starred in the FX original series Terriers which was canceled by FX on December 6, 2010 after the first season. Raymond-James also played the role of Rene Lanier on the HBO original series True Blood. In his feature debut Raymond-James played the best friend of Justin Timberlake's character in Black Snake Moan with Christina Ricci and Samuel Jackson. The actor also starred in Jonny Hirschbein's award-winning short film 'The Fix,' working alongside Robert Patrick and David Paymer. His feature-film credits include 'Moonlight Serenade,' starring as a piano prodigy opposite Academy Award Nominee Amy Adams.