Jason Gray: Mormon Actor
Jason L. Gray is an actor, sketch comedian, writer, and original cast member of BYUtv’s Studio C. At Studio C, he is known for characters that he puts in out-of-the-ordinary situations, such as Batman, Severus Snape, Gollum, Gandalf, Voldemort, and Darth Sidious.
Gray was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. He is one of six sons. Gray served as a missionary to Argentina for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he is a member.
His interest in sketch comedy started while he was a senior in high school when he created a short video he called “Sean Connery’s 7 Tips to Dating for Fools.” He is a big fan of Batman so wrote and starred in a parody of “The Dark Knight” called “The Dateman.” He graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 2012. Gray intended to become a dentist—as are his father and grandfather—but while at BYU, he became involved with the "Divine Comedy" troupe, where he met fellow Studio C cast members. Matt Meese invited him to be part of Studio C at its inception. As of December 2018, the Studio C YouTube channel had more than 2 million subscribers.
Gray recalls when Meese and Stacey Harkey appeared on Conan O'Brien's show, "Conan." "We were in California at a pizza restaurant and we saw him walk by. We were like, 'Oh my goodness, that’s Conan.' He started walking closer and closer, and we’re like, 'What’s going on here?' Then he said, 'Hey, are you guys with Studio C?' It was one of those surreal moments where he was approaching us. He asked if we could take a picture with his kids. Then he paid for our meal, which was so nice of him. Then he said, 'Let me get you guys on my show.' We got on the show a few months later, so that was a very cool memory that I’ll never forget."[1]
In August 2018, Gray and fellow original cast members announced they would finish the ninth season of Studio C then move on to a new digital media network called JK! Studios. The network was building momentum with the COVID-19 pandemic happened. He was part of the sketch actors who performed in NBC's "Bring the Funny" in 2019. In a 2021 Deseret News interview, Gray said that the pandemic "made it really difficult for all 10 people to rely on JK Studios full time. We didn’t have enough projects for everybody. But I think everyone is still glad that we took the chance to do JK and I think it still has a really good chance of continuing forward."[2]
Since then, Gray returned to Studio C; co-starred in a feature film, "Funny Thing About Love," with Jon Heder, which released in December 2021; took on another movie role that stalled due to COVID but will resume in 2022; and appeared in several commercials.
Gray and his wife and children live in Utah County.
