(written from a Production point of view)
James D. Weston II (born 23 December 1963; age 56) is an actor and stuntman who worked as a stand-in on J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. He also played a Klingon guard in the film, but his scene was deleted.
Weston has a military background which includes training and work with weapons, precision driving experience, work with military equipment, aviation maintenance training and graduated from the Aviation High School in New York, and is a member of the Tuskeegee Airmen. Currently he is part of the military reserve force.
Weston often portrays police officers or military officers but made his on-screen debut as a basketball fan in a crowd scene in the Disney comedy Flubber in 1997. Christopher McDonald, Clancy Brown, Wil Wheaton, Dakin Matthews, Bob Sarlatte, Scott Trimble, and Peter White are part of the cast. This debut was followed by background parts in the television series Nash Bridges (2001, with Cress Williams, Marco Rodriguez, and Bill Smitrovich), Boomtown (2003, with Neal McDonough, Erich Anderson, and Dayo Ade), and the television drama The Law and Mr. Lee (2003, along Tina Lifford, Bill Smitrovich, and Jeremy Roberts).
The same year, 2003, Weston performed precision driving stunts and portrayed a background Zeon reveler in the science fiction movies The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. In both films Anthony Zerbe portrayed a supporting role. Further roles include background parts in the television series Barbershop (2005, with Adam Clark), Nip/ Tuck (2005), Sleeper Cell (2005, with Henri Lubatti and Brad Greenquist), Secrets of a Small Town (2006), Monk (2006, with Malcolm McDowell), and The Evidence (2006, with Karen Austin and John Fleck). Among his feature film performances are the comic adaptation Hulk (2003), the mystery drama Twisted (2004, starring Ashley Judd, Titus Welliver, and Leland Orser), the action sequel xXx 2: The Next Level (2005), the drama Bee Season (2005), the comedy Just Like Heaven (2005, with Rosalind Chao and Willie Garson), the musical Rent (2005), the drama Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), the comedy The Darwin Awards (2006), the drama The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Michael Bay's science fiction film Transformers (2007, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman), and the comedy Reno 911!: Miami (2007).
Weston also served as stand-in for Will Smith in the Academy Award nominated drama The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and for actor Dennis Haysbert in two commercials. More recently, he appeared as a pilot in the thriller Terminal Trap (2008).
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