# Jay Duplass

Lawrence Jay Duplass Jr. (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author widely known for his films The Puffy Chair (2005), Cyrus (2010), and Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, Mark Duplass.
Duplass starred in the Amazon Video comedy-drama series Transparent (2014–2019), and co-created the HBO comedy-drama series Togetherness (2015–16) and the HBO anthology series Room 104 (2017–2020).

## Early life

Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Cynthia (née Ernst) and Lawrence Duplass. He was raised in a Catholic family, and attended Jesuit High School. Duplass graduated from the University of Texas at Austin; he started a Masters of Fine Arts degree in film at UT but withdrew in the first few months to pursue independent film projects. His ancestry includes French Cajun, Italian, Ashkenazi Jewish, and German.

## Career
### Directing

Duplass attributes much of his and his brother's love for film to his appreciation for Raising Arizona. In an interview with Robert K. Elder for The Film That Changed My Life, Duplass speculates on what might have happened had he not seen the film in his youth.
   I probably wouldn't be making movies—seriously. It held over for so long. It really was the root of everything that Mark and I always hold ourselves to in making movies. That is to say that Raising Arizona is the most inspired movie that I have ever seen.
In 2015, Mark and Jay Duplass via their Duplass Brothers Television label signed an overall deal with HBO.

### Acting

In 2014, he starred as Josh Pfefferman in the Amazon Prime Original Comedy-Drama Series Transparent, alongside Jeffrey Tambor, Gaby Hoffmann, Amy Landecker and Judith Light. The series was met with widespread critical acclaim, earning 11 Primetime Emmy nominations, including nominations for Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Jeffrey Tambor. In the second season of the show, Duplass's role became more prominent, and he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Prior to Transparent, Duplass had never acted in a featured part. He was talking with director Joey Soloway at a dinner party about the difficulty they were having finding an actor to play what would end up being Duplass's role. After suggesting many actors for the part to Soloway, Soloway turned to Duplass and told him that he should play the part.

## Favorite films

In 2012, Duplass participated in the Sight & Sound film polls of that year. Held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, contemporary directors were asked to select ten films of their choice.
* American Movie (USA, 1999)
* The Big Lebowski (USA, 1998)
* Close-Up (Iran, 1990)
* The Horse Boy (USA, 2009)
* Raising Arizona (USA, 1987)
* Rocky (USA, 1976)
* The Thin Blue Line (USA, 1989)
* Tootsie (USA, 1982)
* Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (USA, 1966)
* A Woman Under the Influence (USA, 1974)

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 2005 | The Puffy Chair | Yes | Yes | Uncredited |
| 2008 | Baghead | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2010 | Cyrus | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2011 | Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2012 | The Do-Deca-Pentathlon | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2017 | Table 19 | No | Story | No |
| 2017 | Outside In | No | Yes | Executive |
| 2018 | Prospect | No | Yes | No |
| 2025 | The Baltimorons | Yes | Yes | Executive |
| TBA | See You When I See You | Yes | No | Executive |
Executive producer only
* Lovers of Hate (2010)
* Black Rock (2012)
* Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
* Bad Milo! (2013)
* The Skeleton Twins (2014)
* The One I Love (2014)
* Adult Beginners (2014)
* Tangerine (2015)
* Manson Family Vacation (2015)
* The Bronze (2015)
* The Overnight (2015)
* 6 Years (2015)
* Rainbow Time (2016)
* Asperger's Are Us (2016)
* Blue Jay (2016)
* Take Me (2017)
* Duck Butter (2018)
* Unlovable (2018)
* Paddleton (2019)
* Horse Girl (2020)
* Young Hearts (2021)
* Drought (2021)
* As of Yet (2021)
* The MisEducation of Bindu (2021)
* Language Lessons (2021)
* Not Going Quietly (2021)
* 7 Days (2021)
* Spin Me Round (2022)
* Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (2022)
* The Drop (2023)
* Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed (2023)
* Biosphere (2023)
* Last Stop Larrimah (2023)
* Jazzy (2024)
* I’ll Show You Mine (TBA)
* The Knife (TBA)

### Television

| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes |
| Year | Title | Director | Executive Producer | Writer | Notes |
| 2015–2016 | Togetherness | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-creator |
| 2014 | Wedlock | No | Yes | No | |
| 2016–2018 | Animals. | No | Yes | No | |
| 2017–2020 | Room 104 | No | Yes | No | Co-creator |
| 2018 | Co-Ed | No | Yes | No |
| 2018 | Evil Genius | No | Yes | No | Documentary series |
| 2018 | Wild Wild Country | No | Yes | No | Documentary series |
| 2019 | On Tour with Asperger's Are Us | No | Yes | No | Documentary series |
| 2019 | Shook | No | Yes | No |
| 2020 | Search Party | Yes | No | No | Directed 2 episodes |
| 2021 | The Lady and the Dale | No | Yes | No | Documentary series |
| 2021 | Sasquatch | No | Yes | No | Documentary series |
| 2021 | Cinema Toast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Wrote & directed 1 episode |
| 2024 | American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders | No | Yes | No | Documentary series |

### Short film

| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes |
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
| 1996 | Connect 5 | No | Yes | No | |
| 2002 | The New Brad | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2003 | This is John | Yes | No | No | |
| 2003 | Death for Sale | No | Yes | No | |
| 2004 | Scrapple | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2005 | The Intervention | Yes | No | No | |
| 2011 | Kevin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary short |
| 2011 | Maurice | No | No | Executive | Documentary short |
| 2011 | Authoritative Sources | Yes | No | No | Segment of Slacker 2011 |
| 2020 | The Ride | No | No | Executive | |

### Acting roles
#### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | Nights and Weekends | James' brother | |
| 2011 | Slacker 2011 | Boyfriend | |
| 2015 | Manson Family Vacation | Nick | |
| 2015 | Paper Towns | English Teacher | |
| 2016 | Rainbow Time | Adam | |
| 2017 | Landline | Ben | |
| 2017 | Beatriz at Dinner | Alex | |
| 2017 | Outside In | Chris Connelly | |
| 2018 | Prospect | Damon | |
| 2018 | Duck Butter | Jay | |
| 2018 | The Oath | Clark Stewart | |
| 2019 | Pink Wall | Leon | |
| 2019 | Phil | Malcolm | |
| 2020 | Horse Girl | Ethan | |
| 2020 | Shithouse | Professor Notkin | Uncredited |
| 2022 | Ghostwritten | Guy Laury | |
| 2023 | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | Lieutenant Allen Bird MD | |
| 2023 | Pain Hustlers | Larkin | |

#### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012–2017 | The Mindy Project | Duncan Deslaurier | 13 episodes |
| 2014–2019 | Transparent | Josh Pfefferman | 38 episodes |
| 2016 | Animals. | Dennis (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2017–2020 | Search Party | Elijah | 7 episodes |
| 2017 | Room 104 | Daniel | Episode: "I Knew You Weren't Dead" |
| 2019 | Drunk History | John C. Lilly | Episode: "Drugs" |
| 2019 | Stumptown | Alan | Episode: "Missed Connections" |
| 2021 | The Chair | Bill Dobson | 6 episodes |
| 2021 | Cinema Toast | (voice) | 1 episode |
| 2022 | Industry | Jesse Bloom | 7 episodes |
| 2024 | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Hades | Episode: "We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of" |
| 2025 | Dying for Sex | Steve | Upcoming miniseries |