Career
Kennedy created a false persona, screen agent "Marty Power", to attract the attention of real agents and managers over the phone, who would later book his performances. He came to prominence in the late 1990s for playing Randy Meeks in the Scream film. He has also performed minor roles in other Hollywood films in recent years, and most often appears opposite actor Kal Penn including Malibu's Most Wanted, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Son of the Mask. His lead role as Tim Avery in Son of the Mask earned him a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor.
Kennedy formed a production company called Wannabe Producers, alongside Josh Etting, through which he has produced the shows The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Blowin' Up, The Starlet, and Living with Fran. Following Malibu's Most Wanted, which he both wrote and starred in, Kennedy co-wrote the MTV show Blowin' Up (2006) featuring his friend Stu Stone.
Kennedy lent his voice to the videogame ESPN NFL 2K5 as a celebrity adversary with his own football team, the Upper Darby Cheesesteaks. He is also unlockable as a Free Agent tight end in season mode. His stint as Activision's emcee at E3 2007, however, drew much criticism not only for failing to understand anything about the industry, but for also performing drunk as he insulted the audience.
While working on his film Malibu's Most Wanted, Kennedy had ghostwriter Ellen Rapaport write a comic pseudo-autobiography entitled, Wannabe: A Hollywood Experiment. The book chronicles his life in Hollywood as he attempts to become a star. It gives background on his life and family, and quickly dives into his adventures. It tells of such things as Kennedy's living conditions in the Hollywood slums, his beat up car, his kidney issues, and funky characters throughout the story.
As a performer of stand-up comedy, he is best known for his sketch performances on his television reality show, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, which became the WB Network's highest ranking new show in 2002, but which was cancelled in April 2004 due to falling viewership. In 2006, Jizzy Entertainment released Unwashed: The Stand-Up Special. In 2008, Kennedy released the documentary Heckler, about the plight of stand-up comics versus their often-aggressive audience. In 2007 he appeared in Criminal Minds as a cannibal satanist serial killer.
Since 2008, Kennedy has played psychology professor Eli James in the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer. Since 2009, he has been in the TV series, The Cleveland Show, playing Roberta Tubbs' boyfriend.
He also stars in the Nicktoon Fanboy and Chum Chum as Kyle, an insecure boy wizard who loathes the fun-loving Fanboy and Chum Chum, but who secretly yearns for their friendship. In April 2010, sources reported that Kennedy would very likely return to the Scream franchise to star in the fourth installment; however, according to Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson there were never plans for him to rejoin the franchise, attributing the misinformation to a fabrication by Kennedy.
Read more about this topic: Jamie Kennedy
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