James Edward Costa (born May 12, 1990) is an American actor, voice actor, writer and director. He gained international attention for his impersonation of

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

. He made his film debut in the

crime-thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

film, '' Bring Him to Me''.

Early life

Jamie Costa was born on May 12, 1990, and grew up in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. He attended private Christian schools up until high school when he was sent to a military boarding school in Virginia where he ended up graduating highest-ranking cadet. He briefly attended college at

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

and eventually ended up studying theater at

North Greenville University North Greenville University is a Private university, private Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist college in Tigerville, South Carolina. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges ...

in South Carolina. He took a semester to study film in Los Angeles, and then finally graduated in December 2013. He also has a brother named Caleb.

Career

Starting in 2015, Costa began posting impersonations on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, including Robin Williams,

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''T ...

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first su ...

, and

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...

. In July 2015, Costa moved to LA to continue his career in acting and filmmaking and has since appeared in various film and television projects both on screen and as a

voice over artist Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-scr ...

. He has produced and acted in

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

fan film A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book, book, or video game created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. It is a form of fan fiction. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been ...

s hosted on his YouTube channel. In 2017, Costa played supporting roles in the feature film ''Heaven Bound'', and on the TV show, ''

My Crazy Ex ''My Crazy Ex'' is an American reality storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, whi ...

''. In 2018, he played a supporting role in the movie ''

Funny Story Funny Story may refer to: * ''Funny Story'' (film), by Michael J. Gallagher * ''Funny Story'' (novel), by Emily Henry See also * '' Funny Stories'', 1962 Soviet children's film {{disambig ...

'' and the ''Price of Fame'' tv series. Costa played a soldier in the 2020 B-rated film, ''Robot Riot''. In 2021, Costa posted a five minute piece titled "ROBIN Test Footage Scene" to YouTube. The video shows Williams, played by Costa, in his trailer preparing for an episode of ''

Mork & Mindy ''Mork & Mindy'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of ''Happy Days'', " My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extrater ...

''. His co-star

Pam Dawber Pamela Dawber (born October 18, 1951) is an American actress known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell on ''Mork & Mindy'' (1978–1982) and Samantha Russell on '' My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988). Early life Dawber was born i ...

(portrayed by Sarah Murphree) brings news of

John Belushi John Adam Belushi ( ; January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, singer and musician. He was one of seven ''Saturday Night Live'' cast members of the first season. He was arguably the most popular member of the ''Satur ...

's death, prompting an emotional reaction from Williams. The video received several million views. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' both called his imitation of Williams "uncanny". In 2022, in an interview with ''

Silver Screen A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry. The term silver scr ...

'' magazine, Costa announced that he will have a guest role as young

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, co ...

on one of the episodes for the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

adult animated series: ''

Agent Elvis ''Agent Elvis'' is an American adult animated television series created by Priscilla Presley, the ex-wife of American singer Elvis Presley, and singer-screenwriter John Eddie, and developed by Mike Arnold and Eddie for Netflix. The series follo ...

'' starring Matthew McConaughey as

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...

. He also starred in a short film titled ''The Cowboy & the Samurai'' with director and writer, Jake Lewis. Costa made his theatrical debut in the 2023 feature Australian film '' Bring Him to Me'', a crime thriller alongside actors

Barry Pepper Barry Robert Pepper (born April 4, 1970) is a Canadian-American actor. His best-known film roles include Private Daniel Jackson in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Corrections Officer Dean Stanton in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), Roger Maris in '' ...

and

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...

. In 2024, he was originally going to voice The Grandmaster in the third season of '' What If...?'' but was replaced by actor and comedian,

Matt Friend Matthew Jonas Friend (born June 24, 1998) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, commentator, voice actor, and impressionist. Early life Friend grew up in Chicago and took acting classes at The Second City as a kid. He is Jewish. For college, h ...

. He also starred as Agent Richard Beckett in the pilot episode of the independent web-series, ''Zack In Time''.

Upcoming projects

Currently in post-production, Costa will also be portraying Herman Schultz / Shocker ll in the upcoming

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

''Spider Man and the Monsters of Manhattan'' after it was previously announced to be released in 2021. Costa announced on his YouTube community tab page that he would star in the 2024 horror film ''Scurry'' alongside newcomer Australian RnB artist, Emalia. Scurry will be Costa's first one-shot film. The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Sydney Sci-fi Film Festival. It is scheduled to be release in limited theatres in the U.S. sometime in 2025. Costa will also star in the action-supernatural film, ''Fight For Your Life'' with director Luke Sparke alongside ''Entourage'' star,

Jeremy Piven Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series '' Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the Britis ...

on a undisclosed date. He will also have a role in the indie film, ''Zombie Apache'' as Sheriff Hatfield with the film also set to be released at an undisclosed date.

Filmography

Film

Short Film

Television

Web series

Video games

Stage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Jamie 1990 births 21st-century American male actors Living people Male actors from Charleston, South Carolina North Greenville University alumni American male film actors American male television actors American people of Italian descent America's Got Talent contestants