Derek Mears

Derek Mears
Mears during the 2010 Texas Frightmare Weekend in Lewisville, April 2010
Born	(1972-04-29) April 29, 1972 Bakersfield, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor/Stuntman
Years active	1995 – present

Derek Mears (born April 29, 1972) is an American actor and stuntman, best known for his role as Jason Voorhees in the reboot of Friday the 13th.

Early life

Mears was born in Bakersfield, California. He performed improv comedy at Comedy Sportz in Bakersfield. He graduated from Highland High School in Bakersfield in 1990. His mom was a crack head and he lived on the streets till a man named Michael picked him up michale was very interested in little boys so then changed his name to derek Jackson

Career

Film career

Mears has numerous credits both as a stuntman and as an actor. He had minor roles in The Tick,ER, Alias, Nash Bridges, Men in Black II, The Shield, CSI: NY, My Name Is Earl, Mr. & Mrs Smith, CSI: Miami, and The Hills Have Eyes 2. His stunt credits include the films Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Blades of Glory, and TV series such as Angel and Bones.

Mears got his breakthrough lead role in the new Friday the 13th film. He was recommended to the producers, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form of Platinum Dunes, by make-up and special effects guru Scott Stoddard, who created the new look for Mears' character, Jason Voorhees. Due to Mears' height at 6 ft 5.5 in (1.97 m) he is one of the tallest actors who ever portrayed Jason, beside Ken Kirzinger, who stands at a similar height to Mears. He was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in the category for Best Villain for his portrayal of Voorhees, but lost to Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Mears did a lot of research on child development to flesh out the role of Camp Crystal Lake's notorious resident serial killer.

In the script, Jason watches his mother die in front of him. So I did research on, when you're that age how do your cognitive processes happen? How is the child supposed to be developing? I found out that at that age you're starting to be integrating into society, whether it's through group sports or group activities so that you find out you're not alone. I discovered that he missed that aspect. He was already an outcast from society for looking different and being disfigured, and his only connection to love and reality is his mother.

He is contracted to return for either another Friday the 13th sequel or another film by Platinum Dunes. If Mears reprises his role as Jason, he will be only the second person to portray the character more than once, next to Kane Hodder. He portrayed a Classic Predator in the 2010 science-fiction horror film sequel Predators.

Mears appeared in Ultraforce 2 on the Superego Podcast. He also appeared in the American sitcom Community in the episode "“Romantic Expressionism".

He is also set to appear as a zombie in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	The Shield	Crazyhouse	TV series (one episode)
	E.R.	Joseph	TV series (one episode)
2005	Cursed	Werewolf	Minor Role
	Zathura	Lead Zorgon	Minor Role
2006	The Hills Have Eyes	Larry
	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	Assistant of Davy Jones
	Pro-Life	The Father
2007	Blades of Glory	Josh	Cameo
	The Hills Have Eyes 2	Chameleon	Minor Role
2008	Semi-Pro	Himself
	Resident Evil: Degeneration	Curtis Miller/G	Motion capture
2009	His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th	Himself	Documentary
	Friday the 13th	Jason Voorhees	Lead Role
2010	Predators	"Classic" Predator	Lead Role
2011	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	Zombie	Post-production
TBA	Friday the 13th: Part II	Jason Voorhees	Announced

External links

• Derek Mears at IMDb
• Interview with Derek Mears at SuicideGirls.com
• FEARnet Interview with Derek Mears