C. J. Graham
C. J. Graham is an American actor who became one of many actors/stuntmen to play Jason Voorhees in the sixth film of the Friday the 13th film series.
Career
A 6'3" former nightclub owner, he was spotted as a potential Jason Voorhees for Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives when he was playing Jason in a night club act, impressing the casting people who were in search of a new Jason since the stuntman wasn't coming across as imposing or powerful as they had hoped for. Graham even performed all of the character's stunts, despite being uncredited. He reprised this role in the video for Alice Cooper's video for "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)", which was written for and featured in the film.
As of 2005, Graham has only played one other role – he appeared in the horror film Highway to Hell as the main antagonist, a heavily made-up, silent monster called the Hell Cop. As of 2010, Graham is the VP of casino operations at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California. This is similar to Heather Langenkamp (of A Nightmare on Elm Street fame) and Richard Brooker (of Friday the 13th Part III fame), who are both full-time business owners and part-time actors. He has been known to speak highly of his time as Jason, even claiming that he would reprise the role in another film if asked.
Graham is currently the COO of the Ague Caliente Spa Resort and Casino in Rancho Mirage, CA.
According to an online interview with Kane Hodder, the actor who played Jason directly after Graham had, Graham actually had a chance to reprise the role of Jason years later in 2003 when the long-awaited film Freddy vs. Jason went into production and the producers of that film were searching for a new actor to play Jason; having decided to exclude Hodder after the four movies he had done as the iconic hockey-mask killer with supposed reasons ranging from his height compared to Robert Englund, the actor who portrayed Freddy Krueger in that film and the producers simply wanting to try something different with Jason. Graham's agent wanted him to audition for the role again but Graham, both being a good friend of Hodder and feeling like the New Line producers were treating him unfairly with the re-casting decision, wanted no part in it.[1] Ultimately, the role went to Canadian stuntmen Ken Kirzinger. Graham commonly visits horror conventions and loves to meet his fans and sign autographs.
Filmography
- Highway to Hell (1992) as Sergeant Bedlam, Hellcop
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) as Jason Voorhees
References
External links
- The Home of CJ Graham (official site)
- C.J. Graham at the Internet Movie Database
| Preceded by Tom Morga |
Actors portraying Jason Voorhees 1986 |
Succeeded by Kane Hodder |