Over the decades, Chris has worked in various positions in all forms of entertainment, however his primary work as an actor led to writing and directing award-winning films and television shows, a few published books, including a graphic novel that became a best seller in Greece, touring with various bands as a piano player, and working extensively with various nonprofits focusing on ocean and marine mammal research and conservation.
AS AN ACTOR
On screen, Jaymes has continued to move between television, independent film, and larger productions. He appears in Scott Cooper’s Deliver Me from Nowhere, the Bruce Springsteen biopic starring Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, playing Dennis King. He also stars opposite Michael Chernus in The Amazon: River of Doubt, portraying explorer George Kruck Cherrie alongside Chernus’s Theodore Roosevelt. The fully immersive 360-degree film premiered on July 4, 2026, at the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota. In 2027, he stars alongside Shane West in the true story of American missionary, Stanley Rother
His television credits include multiple episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime with Christopher Meloni, Apple TV+’s For All Mankind, in which he portrayed English astronaut Nick Jennings, and John Wells’s Rescue: HI-Surf. He has also appeared in Magnum P.I., Lost, Party of Five, Chicago Hope, and numerous other television projects.
Relocating to New York after the pandemic, his immersion in theater community has been his primary focus, taking on a succession of demanding roles. Within 2025-2026, he starred in over a dozen plays, reading, and public performances including the lead in the May 2026 La MaMa world premiere of Censorship of Dreams, followed by the lead in Paul Kubicki’s world premiere Portraits of Gays in Despair at HB Playwrights Theatre in June. Immediately followed by Sebastian Bader’s world premiere Sideshow by the Seashore in July at The Chain, Mike Backes’ The Final Stop at the Gene Frankel Theatre in August, which went on to win Best Play of their season and in October the world premiere of the two-hander, A Straight Line is Just a Circle that Gave up at 28th Street Theater. In 2025, Jaymes received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman in the world premiere of One in Twenty-Five at Theater for the New City, as well as, Deirdre Kinahan’s Irish two-hander The Saviour at Manoa Valley Theater, and Roland in Nick Payne’s two-hander, Constellations.
While his off days have been spent accruing hours studying with everyone from Alfred Molina, Jessica Hecht, Bob Krakower, Giles Foreman, Greg Berg, He has been a longtime student at HB Studio, South Coast Repertory Conservatory program in his early years, as well as, extensive training in improvisation at Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings, and iO West.
HOW IT STARTED…
Born in Long Beach, California, his youth was spent working as a Rescue Scuba Diver and competing as an amateur skateboarder. At 16, he began studying with various acting coaches, including Howard Fine and Playhouse West, and at 17 moved into a downtown Los Angeles loft with a horde of musicians and professional skateboarders.
Within a few months he was cast on the television series Wings, however the role was cut from the script prior to filming. A few months later, he found himself cast alongside Cory Haim (eventually replaced by actor Chad Allen) and opposite Helen Hunt in the CBS movie-of-the-week Murder In New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story. He went on to work steadily in film and television, including Ivan Reitman’s Father’s Day with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, as well as numerous other productions.
AS A DIRECTOR
In 2005, his debut feature film as a writer-director, In Memory of My Father, became an international festival hit, acquiring over a dozen Best Film and Best Director Awards, including the American Spirit/Best Feature Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Grand Jury Award at CineVegas, Best Debut Feature at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival, and Best Director at the San Diego Film Festival. Jaymes wrote, directed, produced, edited, and starred in the film alongside Judy Greer and Jeremy Sisto.
Over the last decades, he worked on numerous feature films and television projects writing and directing for Netflix, Lifetime, the CBC with icon talents Martin Short, William Shatner, Cloris Leachman, and many others.
AS A WRITER
His writinG has extended beyond film and television. Jaymes created and wrote Sons of Chaos, a historical graphic novel about the Greek War of Independence of 1821, published internationally by IDW and Penguin Random House. The book became a bestseller in Greece, where Jaymes was later awarded the Medal of Freedom by the Parnassos Literary Society. His screenplay Unconditional was also recognized as a semifinalist for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowship.
AS A PIANO PLAYER
Music has been another constant throughout his life. Jaymes attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying piano and orchestration, and later worked professionally as a pianist and keyboard player. He toured with artists including Bootstraps and country-music legend Wanda Jackson. With Bootstraps, he appeared on the band’s recordings and live performances, with the group’s music later featured in television shows including Grey’s Anatomy.
AS A HUMAN
His relationship with the ocean, which began in those early years as a Rescue Diver, has also remained a meaningful part of his life and work. Jaymes has been involved in ocean conservation and marine-related storytelling, including extensive work with Island Dolphin Care, an organization that uses therapeutic programs involving bottlenose dolphins with children and military veterans. His research and footage, combined with reporting by NBC correspondent Kerry Sanders, contributed to an award-winning story about a groundbreaking medical procedure performed on a dolphin named Sara. The story received the 2014 Michael DeBakey Journalism Award, recognizing journalism highlighting biomedical research and scientific breakthroughs.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jaymes extended that commitment to public service by becoming one of the early volunteers with Sean Penn’s nonprofit C.O.R.E.—Community Organized Relief Effort. Working alongside the organization during 2020 and 2021, he contributed to the development and implementation of systems for COVID-19 testing sites and, subsequently, vaccination sites across the country.
