Jeff Ward (born December 30, 1986) is an American actor and theatre director. He is best known for his role as Deke Shaw in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2017–2020) and Buggy the Clown in One Piece (2023–present). He also played Roy Hardaway in the Netflix miniseries Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021) and Seth Marlowe in Channel Zero: No-End House (2017).

Jeff Ward
Ward at GalaxyCon San Jose in 2024
Born (1986-12-30) December 30, 1986 (age 37)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, theatre director
Years active2005–present

Early life and education

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Ward was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Radnor, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he began acting in theatrical productions.[1] He has one younger sister who is a third grade teacher.[2] Ward attended Tisch School of the Arts along with fellow actor Miles Teller.[3] He is also an alumnus of Stella Adler School for Acting.[4]

Career

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Ward received recognition after he was cast as Charles Manson in the 2016 TV movie Manson's Lost Girls, a role he accepted because he felt that "people inherently have a slightly dark side."[3]

In 2017, he starred as Seth Marlowe in the critically acclaimed horror anthology series Channel Zero: No-End House.[5]

 
Ward at the 2019 WonderCon

Later in 2017, he was cast as Deke Shaw on the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a recurring role during season five.[6] Originally he was cast as Virgil, a minor character who dies in the first episode of the season, but during the table read of the episode, the main cast felt that Ward "nailed it" as Virgil and wanted him to stay on as Deke, who had not yet been cast. After the reading, the producers reached out to Ward and offered him to audition for Deke, which ended in him ultimately being cast in the part.[7] Ward was promoted to series regular for season six,[8] and returned in that capacity for the seventh and final season.[9]

In November 2019, it was announced that Ward would appear in a main role on the Netflix horror drama miniseries Brand New Cherry Flavor.[10] The miniseries was released on August 13, 2021.[11]

In September 2022, Ward was cast in the role of Buggy the Clown in the Netflix series One Piece, based on the manga of the same name.[12] The following year he made his debut as a theatre director with an Off-Broadway production of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The production starred Aubrey Plaza and Christopher Abbott, with Ward himself stepping in for Abbott as an understudy.[13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Vamperifica Peter
2015 The Girlfriend Game Ben Short film; also producer
2017 The Boy Downstairs Marcus
Take Me Out with the Stars Max Short film
2018 Imaginary Circumstances Max Short film
2019 Plus One Trevor
TBA The Descendant Adam Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Darwin Mondale Episode: "In the Wee Small Hours: Part 1"
2011 Body of Proof Patrick Spradlin 2 episodes
Heavenly Jared Unsold pilot
2012 The Beauty Inside Handsome Alex 2 episodes
Beautiful People Paul Unsold pilot
Holly's Holiday Milo Ames TV movie
2013 Project Reality Unknown Miniseries
2014 Next Time on Lonny Giles Episode: "Lonny Goes for Broke"
Open Season Jonah Episode: "The Night Out"
2015 The Mentalist Matthew Stoppard Episode: "The Whites of His Eyes"
2016 Manson's Lost Girls Charles Manson TV movie
Rosewood Wyatt Montgomery Episode: "Hydrocephalus and Hard Knocks"
That's What She Said Unknown Miniseries
2017 555 Actor Episode: "Acting"
Channel Zero: No-End House Seth Marlowe Main role; 6 episodes
2017–2020 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Deke Shaw Recurring role (season 5); Main role (seasons 67); 45 episodes
2019–2021 Pen15 Rick Episode: "Runaway"
2020 Cake Himself Episode: "Auditions: The Guy Before"
2021 Hacks George 2 episodes
Brand New Cherry Flavor Roy Hardaway 8 episodes
2023–present One Piece Buggy the Clown 6 episodes

References

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  1. ^ Eichel, Molly. "How Radnor's Jeff Ward learned to be Charles Manson". inquirer.com.
  2. ^ "r/IAmA - I am writer and actor Jeff Ward of Manson's Lost Girls - Ask Me Anything!". reddit.
  3. ^ a b Losgar, Maxwell (February 5, 2016). "Jeff Ward Scared Himself Learning to Play Charles Manson". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  4. ^ "Jeff Ward". IMDb. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  5. ^ Petski, Denise (September 27, 2016). "'Channel Zero: The No-End House': Jeff Ward Cast As Male Lead In Syfy Series". Deadline. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  6. ^ Petski, Denise (August 4, 2017). "'Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.': Jeff Ward Set To Recur In season 5". Deadline. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  7. ^ Brown, Tracy (July 25, 2018). "'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s' Jeff Ward explains how he was cast as Deke Shaw". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 4, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  8. ^ Li, Shirley (July 21, 2018). "'Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.': Jeff Ward Set As Series Regular In season 6". Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  9. ^ O'Connell, Michael (November 16, 2018). "'Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.': Jeff Ward Set As Series Regular In season 7". hollywoodreporter. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 15, 2019). "'Brand New Cherry Flavor' Series Headlined By Rosa Salazar A Go At Netflix; Catherine Keener, Eric Lange, Jeff Ward & Manny Jacinto Co-Star In Horror Adaptation". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  11. ^ Cordero, Rosy (July 19, 2021). "Rosa Salazar Goes Dark In Netflix's 'Brand New Cherry Flavor' Teaser Trailer". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  12. ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (March 8, 2022). "'One Piece': Morgan Davies, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino & Aidan Scott Among 6 Cast In Netflix Live-Action Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  13. ^ Paulson, Michael (January 16, 2024). "'Covid, Crutches, Surgery: For Christopher Abbott the Show Somehow Went On". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
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