The most famous character of the Hellraiser movies — the Lead Cenobite who came to be aptly known as Pinhead — was originally played in the first eight installments by Doug Bradley. No actor who stepped in to fill the role since he exited the franchise managed to live up to the same diabolical menace that the British actor perfected before…until now. Redefining and refreshing the iconic horror movie villain with a perfectly alluring ominousness in director David Bruckner’s Hulu original reboot is Jamie Clayton.
The transgender woman first entered the public eye as a make-up artist on the VH1 reality makeover series TRANSform Me (which was also a breakout moment for Orange is the New Black cast member Laverne Cox) in 2010. The following year saw the beginning of her acting career and, more than a decade later, she is one of the most exciting performers of her demographic and her generation, especially after such a striking turn in Hellraiser. If her performance in the thought-provoking new horror movie had you curious to see more of her (but without extensive make-up and prosthetics), the following are some essential Jamie Clayton movies and TV shows available for streaming — starting with her very first acting credit.
Hung (2009-2011)
Desperate for money after his house suffers tremendous fire damage, a divorced, middle-aged, and well-endowed high school basketball coach (Thomas Jane) teams up with a one-night stand (Emmy nominee Jane Adams) as his pimp to start their own independent and discreet escort service in Detroit.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jamie Clayton: In 2011, Jamie Clayton made her acting debut with a guest role on two episodes from the third season of creators Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin’s HBO original dramedy, Hung, as Kyla — a client of Jane’s character, Ray, whom he discovers is transgender before escorting her to her high school reunion.
Stream Hung on HBO Max.
Buy Hung on Amazon.
Sense8 (2015-2018)
A group of eight different people from different parts of the world come together after discovering that they are all telepathically linked and must protect each other from those who see them as a threat.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jamie Clayton: In 2015, Jamie Clayton landed her first regular role on a TV series as San Francisco-based transgender lesbian, expert computer hacker, and telepath Nomi Marks on Sense8 — one of the best sci-fi TV shows on Netflix and one of the most acclaimed creations of transgender filmmakers and siblings, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, since The Matrix.
The Neon Demon (2016)
A 16-year-old aspiring model (Elle Fanning) attracts the attention of a renowned, adult photographer (Karl Glusman) and inspires envy in a trio of other young hopefuls who will do whatever it takes to achieve her level of success.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jamie Clayton: In 2016, Jamie Clayton made her feature-length film debut as an unnamed casting director in The Neon Demon — visionary director Nicholas Winding Refn’s bizarrely horrifying and visually stunning exploration of the cutthroat world of Los Angeles’ teen modeling scene.
Stream The Neon Demon on Amazon Prime.
Chain Of Death (2019)
At the recommendation of his doctor (Jamie Clayton), a terminally ill man (John Patrick Amedori) joins a support group for people like him that really turns out to be a cult offering assisted suicides in exchange for the murder of another.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jamie Clayton: For her next major thriller after The Neon Demon, Clayton shared the screen with one of the most iconic horror movie Scream Queens, Adrienne Barbeau, in director David Martín Porras’ unnerving parable, Chain of Death
Stream Chain Of Death on Tubi.
Rent/Buy Chain Of Death on Amazon.
Designated Survivor (2016-2019)
After a deadly terrorist attack on the United States Capitol building leaves much of the president’s cabinet dead (including said president), the country’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Kiefer Sutherland) is immediately promoted to the position of Commander-in-Chief and struggles to handle the dire and critical responsibilities that come with the job.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jamie Clayton: For her next major role on a hit, Netflix-exclusive TV series, Jamie Clayton joined the cast of the short-lived, but much-loved political drama, Designated Survivor, for its third and final season as Sasha Booker — the transgender sister-in-law of President Tom Kirkman.
Stream Designated Survivor on Netflix.
The L Word: Generation Q (2019-Present)
Three close-knit, middle-aged lesbians from Los Angeles (Jennifer Beals, Kate Moennig, and Leisha Hailey) befriend a group of younger people on the queer spectrum.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jamie Clayton: Jamie Clayton is set to reprise her role as recovering alcoholic and bartender Tess Van Der Berg on the third season of The L Word: Generation Q — co-creators Michele Abbott, Ilene Chaiken, and Kathy Greenberg’s revival of their acclaimed, Emmy-nominated, LGBTQ+ series that ran on Showtime from 2005 to 2009.
Stream The L Word: Generation Q on Showtime.
Buy The L Word: Generation Q on Amazon.
Roswell, New Mexico (2019-2022)
In a small town in New Mexico that is famous for being the supposed site of UFO crash, a close-knit group of young residents discover that the story may be more than just a legend and that aliens really do live among them.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jamie Clayton: After joining the cast of The L Word: Generation Q, Jamie Clayton landed a three-episode stint on the second season of a reboot of an older series — The CW’s coming-of-age sci-fi thriller Roswell, New Mexico — as Charlie Cameron, the older sister of Riley Voelkel’s character, Jenna, who arrives in the titular town to investigate a series of strange disappearances.
Stream Roswell, New Mexico on Netflix.
Buy Roswell, New Mexico on Amazon.
For any fans of Jamie Clayton who have already streamed Hellraiser on Hulu, we also recommend checking out Disclosure — a documentary about how transgender people are depicted in Hollywood that features her as an interviewee and is available to stream on Netflix. Also, look out for when she lends her voice to the animated, mythological series, Twilight of the Gods, which is now in post-production.
