DJ Qualls

DJ Qualls
Born Donald Joseph Qualls
(1978-06-10) June 10, 1978
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation Actor, film producer, model
Years active 1994–present

Donald Joseph "DJ" Qualls (born June 10, 1978) is an American actor, producer, and model. He is best known for his work in films including Road Trip, The New Guy, and Hustle & Flow, and for appearances on television series such as Breaking Bad, Supernatural, Scrubs, Lost, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and The Big Bang Theory.[1] He most recently co-starred in the FX comedy series Legit, and is currently co-starring in the SyFy channel's Z Nation, which premiered on September 12, 2014. In addition he is in the cast of the Amazon Studios show, The Man in the High Castle.

Early life

Qualls was born in Nashville, Tennessee, one of five children of Debbie and Connie Qualls. He was raised in Manchester, Tennessee and attended school nearby. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 14; after two years of treatment, his cancer was said to be in remission. According to Qualls the chemotherapy he received at an early age sped up his metabolism and impacted his system at a time of growth, "It stopped my development," which explains his slender frame.[2][3][4] After graduating from Coffee County Central High School, where he was an active member in the Red Raider Band, Qualls attended King's College, London, where he studied English language and English literature. He returned to Tennessee and enrolled in Belmont University in Nashville, where he also began acting in a local theater company.[5]

Career

Qualls was an extra in the 1994 HBO film Against the Wall. He landed the small role of Jason in the miniseries Mama Flora's Family (1998) while participating in community theater. After auditioning for a one-liner in Road Trip (2000), he was asked to come from the Atlanta office to meet producer Ivan Reitman in California. He debuted in Road Trip as shy virgin Kyle Edwards.[6] After this, he worked as a model for Prada and photographers such as David LaChapelle and Steve Klein.[7] In Cherry Falls (2000), he played Wally, another virgin. In 2001, he played Neil Lawrence in Chasing Holden.[8]

In 2002, Qualls played Archie in the film Comic Book Villains, Andrew in the film Big Trouble, Junior in the film Lone Star State of Mind, Dizzy Gillespie Harrison in the film The New Guy, and Rat in the sci-fi film The Core.[9] He starred in the comedy Delta Farce. In 2005, he appeared as Shelby in the film Hustle & Flow.[10] His television work includes eccentric hunter Garth Fitzgerald IV on Supernatural and appearances on Monk, Scrubs, Criminal Minds, Lost, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI, Numb3rs, My Name Is Earl, Breaking Bad, The Big Bang Theory, and Memphis Beat.

Qualls appeared in a cameo in Britney Spears' music video "Boys" (2001) and was also in the "I'm Just a Kid" music video by Simple Plan (2002). He stars in the Paramount Pictures web series Circle of Eight.[11][12] He most recently co-starred as Billy Nugent, a 33-year-old man with muscular dystrophy, on the television series Legit.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Road Trip Kyle Edwards
2000 Cherry Falls Wally
2001 Chasing Holden Neil Lawrence
2002 Comic Book Villains Archie Co-producer
2002 Big Trouble Andrew
2002 Lone Star State of Mind Junior
2002 The New Guy Dizzy Gillespie Harrison / Gil Harris
2003 The Core Theodore Donald "Rat" Finch
2005 Hustle & Flow Shelby
2005 Little Athens Cory
2006 I'm Reed Fish Andrew
2007 Delta Farce Private Everett Shackleford
2008 Familiar Strangers Kenny Worthington
2009 Road Trip: Beer Pong Kyle Edwards
2009 All About Steve Howard
2009 Circle of Eight Randall[13]
2010 Last Day of Summer Joe Executive producer
2010 Amigo Zeke
2011 Running Mates Graham "One Ball" Jones
2013 Small Apartments Artie
2013 Pawn Shop Chronicles JJ
2015 November Rule Kareem

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Mama Flora's Family Jason
2002 Scrubs Josh Episode: "My Student"
2005 Lost Johnny Episode: "Everybody Hates Hugo"
2005 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Robie Boatman Episode: "Scared Crazy"
2005 Criminal Minds Richard Slessman Episode: "Extreme Aggressor"
2005 Punk'd Himself Season 6, Episode 7
2006 Monk Rufus Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward"
2006 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Henry Garden Episode: "Post Mortem"
2007 Numb3rs Anthony Braxton Episode: "Primacy"
2007 My Name Is Earl Ray-Ray 2 episodes
2007 The Big Bang Theory Toby Loobenfeld Episode: "The Loobenfeld Decay"
2009 Breaking Bad Getz Episode: "Better Call Saul"
2010 Memphis Beat Davey Sutton 20 episodes
2011–present Supernatural Garth Fitzgerald IV 4 episodes
2013 Hawaii Five-0 Marshall Demps Episode: "Kupouli 'la"
2013 Perception Agent Rudy Fleckner 2 episodes[14]
2013–2014 Legit Billy Nugent Main character (26 episodes)
2014–present Z Nation Citizen Z Series regular, 18 episodes
2015–present The Man in the High Castle Ed McCarthy Series regular, 10 episodes

Music videos

Year Artist Title Role
2001 Britney Spears "Boys"
2002 Simple Plan "I'm Just a Kid"

References

External links

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