Jaye Davidson makes the awkward attraction in The Crying Game convincing even when the plotting strains belief. We value that ability to keep us interested in a person whom the screenplay could have reduced to a complication.
Fi1m perspective
In The Crying Game (1992), Jaye Davidson makes Dil's attraction to Fergus feel awkward enough to believe. There is loneliness in it, but no easy assurance that company will solve anything. Neil Jordan's thriller keeps finding complications for the couple; Davidson and Stephen Rea make their difficulty in trusting one another interesting without much help from the plot. It is a performance we recommend without much hesitation, in a film whose cleverness occasionally gets in the actors' way.
Jordan's screenplay spends so much time with Fergus's feelings that Dil could easily become somebody whose main job is to explain him. Davidson prevents that by keeping us interested in what Dil might want from this attachment, and what might make it difficult. We were moved by the awkwardness between Davidson and Rea, because their attraction never makes their mutual distrust conveniently disappear. When Jordan allows the relationship to stay difficult, the actors give us enough reason to hope for some comfort without making that hope feel foolish.
Davidson had no prior professional acting experience, which makes the assurance of this debut striking. Two years later, Roland Emmerich's Stargate (1994) cast Davidson as Ra, an imposing villain with limited screen time. The underplayed, regal manner suits the part, although it offers less to get attached to than Dil's uncertain affection. Emmerich makes effective use of Davidson's appearance, but Jordan gives us more reason to care.
Davidson largely withdrew from acting after those two major films, leaving little evidence for claims about what might have followed. We would not turn two performances into proof that any part would have been possible. There is enough in Dil to recommend the work that exists without inventing a larger career to justify it. Begin with The Crying Game, allowing for a thriller plot that is less persuasive than the people caught in it.
Biography
Jaye Davidson, born Alfred Amey, is an English model, fashion stylist and retired actor. He was born on 21 March 1968 in Riverside, California, and moved with his family to Hertfordshire, England, as a young child.
Davidson made his acting debut as Dil in Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game (1992). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for the role. He next appeared as Ra in Stargate (1994). Davidson had no prior professional acting experience and was discovered at a wrap party for Derek Jarman’s Edward II.
He retired from acting shortly afterwards, citing a dislike of the associated fame, and has since worked in modelling and as a fashion stylist. He married Thomas Clarke in 2017.
