Ryan Jamaal Swain
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Ryan Jamaal Swain (born March 13, 1994) is an American actor and dancer. He is known for his role as Damon Richards-Evangelista, a gay dancer, in the FX television series '' Pose''.


Early life

Ryan Swain was born to a single-mother household in
Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
, on March 13, 1994. He is the eldest of four children and grew up in
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
. Whereas his family members geared towards the healthcare field, Swain showed an affinity for the arts at a young age. He began tap dancing lessons at the age of four and expanded his repertoire to include ballet, jazz, modern and hip-hop dancing. During his childhood, Swain worked with the Alabama Dance Academy, Alabama Ballet, Red Mountain Theatre Company, Birmingham Children's Theatre and Virginia Samford Theatre. He began catalog modeling at the age of eight, and did not pursue acting until his freshman year of high school at the
Alabama School of Fine Arts The Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) is a public, tuition-free partially boarding state magnet middle and high school located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It provides conservatory style and college-preparatory education to st ...
. At the time, Swain was initially seeking an internship—as he was training to become a professional tennis player. He would go on to earn his B.F.A. from
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
in Washington, D.C., and study at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, U.K. Swain relocated to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
upon completing his studies.


Career


Stage

While attending
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
, Swain appeared in productions such as ''
Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, revised considerably by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madc ...
''. He has also performed in plays including ''
Six Degrees of Separation Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is al ...
'' and ''Thoughts of a Colored Man'', as well as starring in several
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
productions such as ''Kill Move Paradise'' at the
National Black Theatre The National Black Theatre is a not-for-profit organization, non-profit cultural and educational corporation, and community-based theatre company located on 5th Avenue in Harlem, New York (state), New York. History The National Black Theatre (N ...
in New York. Despite his small screen debut, Swain still gives back to the theater community. In 2018, it was reported that he hosted an impromptu acting workshop at the Forma Arts + Wellness studio in Birmingham.


Film

In 2017, Swain was cast as Damon Richards in Ryan Murphy's FX television series '' Pose''. The series premiered on June 3, 2018, and attracted critical acclaim. The first season boasted the largest cast of transgender actors ever for a scripted network series, with over 50 transgender characters. On July 12, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, which was set to premiere sometime in 2019. Due to his Southern background, Swain had never heard of or been exposed to the ball culture depicted in ''Pose''. Swain based his performance on his viewing of the 1990 documentary '' Paris is Burning'' during his college years. He also drew upon his experience of moving to New York City with just "50 dollars in his pocket" in order to pursue his dreams. Swain's character returned for the first episode of the third and final season, but was written out for the second half of the episode, which was filmed during Swain's exit from the series due to the death of Swain's real-life sister.


Writing

Swain's first major foray into writing was in 2014 when he wrote and starred in ''A Negro Writer'', a one-man show about the life of American writer
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
. He announced plans to write a teen fiction book about a