Jeff Ward (actor)

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 38) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, theatre director
Years active	2005–present

Early life and education

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

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

Film

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

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 6–7); 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