James Austin Kerr

Kerr was born in Oklahoma City and attended Edmond North High School in Edmond, Oklahoma.^[1][2] Although he performed in a school production of Oklahoma! in the fifth grade, he did not pursue acting again until his late teens.^[1] He has described taking an acting class in Norman, Oklahoma, taught by casting director and actor Chris Freihofer, as a turning point in his decision to pursue the profession.^[1]

After relocating to Los Angeles, Kerr worked as a model while continuing acting training. In a 2023 profile, he described booking modeling work for brands including Target and TJ Maxx while auditioning for roles.^[1]

Kerr has been credited in a range of film and television productions. He appeared alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the 2019 thriller Awake and had a role in the World War II film Dauntless: The Battle of Midway.^[1] His television credits include appearances on series such as NCIS, The Mentalist, and Criminal Minds.^[1]

In 2019, Kerr was named a Young Oklahoma Creativity Ambassador by Creative Oklahoma, an organization appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt to recognize creative contributors to the state.^[3][4]

In 2025, an okcFriday article about a screening of the independent Oklahoma film You People (2018) (which won Best Oklahoma Film at the deadCenter Film Festival) noted Kerr's role in the production.^[5][6] The article also noted additional screen credits including the feature film Reagan, as well as the television series Johnson and Sistas.^[5]