Jayma Mays (born Jamia Suzette Mays, July 16, 1979) is an American actress whose work spans television, feature films, stage and voice performance. She became widely recognized for playing the sweetly anxious guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury on the musical comedy series Glee, and has appeared in network dramas and comedies as well as family films and animated features.
Early life and education
Mays was born in Bristol, Tennessee, and raised in a small-town environment that she has occasionally referenced in interviews. She attended Grundy High School and continued her studies at Southwest Virginia Community College before transferring to Radford University. Her formal training included theater and performance classes that prepared her for work on stage and on camera.
Career highlights
Across television and film Mays has built a career on roles that often combine comedic timing with an earnest, slightly quirky charm. On television she performed recurring and guest roles such as Charlie on Ugly Betty, and reached mainstream fame with her long-running role on Glee. In cinema she has been cast in comedies and family pictures, including the romantic subplot role of Amy Anderson in Paul Blart: Mall Cop and the voice and live-action role of Grace Winslow in The Smurfs and its sequel.
Typical roles and range
Mays is frequently cast as warm, approachable characters who possess an underlying vulnerability or eccentricity. While comedy has been the dominant genre of her most visible work, she has also taken on dramatic and voice-acting projects, demonstrating versatility between physical, vocal and musical performance.
Selected film and television credits
- Glee — Emma Pillsbury
- Ugly Betty — Charlie (recurring)
- Paul Blart: Mall Cop — Amy Anderson
- The Smurfs and Smurfs 2 — Grace Winslow (voice/live-action)
Personal life and notes
Born in Bristol, Tennessee (Bristol), Mays married actor Adam Campbell in 2007. Beyond on-screen work she has continued to perform in stage productions and lend her voice to animation. For more information on specific credits and current projects, consult filmographies and official profiles maintained by industry sources or the show's production pages (professional profile).
Mays's career illustrates a common path for contemporary screen actors who balance television visibility with motion-picture roles and voice work, allowing a range of projects across genres and formats. Her public persona is often associated with roles that blend comic sensibility with heartfelt sincerity.