Ryan Jamaal Swain

Ryan Jamaal Swain: Biography in Details

Who is Ryan Jamaal Swain?

Ryan Jamaal Swain is an American actor and dancer, best known for his role as Damon Richards-Evangelista, a gay dancer, in the FX television series Pose. He is also known for his different stage appearances such as Anything Goes, Six Degrees of Separation, Thoughts of a Colored Man and Kill Move Paradise.

Ryan Jamaal Swain: Bio, Age, Education

Ryan Jamaal Swain was born on March 13, 1994, in Birmingham, Alabama. He is 30 years old as of 2025. He holds American nationality and his ethnicity is caucasian. Similarly, his birth sign is Pisces.

He was born to a single-mother household in Orlando, Florida. He is the eldest of four children and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. While Swain’s family has mostly supported his artistic pursuits, he has faced significant challenges. As a child, his stepfather was physically and emotionally abusive toward him because of his sexuality.

In 2020, his sister, Raven Lynette Swain, was tragically shot and killed in Birmingham, Alabama. This loss led Swain to leave the show Pose, and his character was written out after the first episode of the third season. Swain identifies as queer.

Speaking about his educational background, he earned his B.F.A. from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and also studied at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, U.K. After finishing his education, Swain moved to New York City.

Career and Professional Life

Talking about his career, when he was studying at Howard University, he started appearing in productions such as Anything Goes. He performed in various plays including Six Degrees of Separation and Thoughts of a Colored Man, as well as starring in several Off-Broadway productions such as Kill Move Paradise at the National Black Theatre in New York.

Even after starting his career on screen, Swain continues to support the theatre community. In 2018, he hosted a spontaneous acting workshop at the Forma Arts + Wellness studio in Birmingham.

In 2014, his first major writing project came after writing and starred in A Negro Writer, a one-man show about the life of American writer Langston Hughes. He has also shared plans to write a teen fiction book centred on a Southern teenager.

In 2017, he was featured as Damon Richards in Ryan Murphy’s FX series Pose. The show premiered on June 3, 2018, and received widespread praise. Its first season featured the largest cast of transgender actors in a scripted TV series, with over 50 transgender characters. On July 12, 2018, it was announced that Pose would return for a second season, scheduled to air in 2019.

Net Worth and Salary

Talking about his earnings, Ryan might have earned a good amount of money as a professional actor. Most of his earnings are from his acting career, movies, television series, and other business ventures. The info about his salary and net worth is under review.

Rumours, Controversy

Ryan has not been involved in controversy till now. He keeps his personal life private and has kept himself away from scandals and rumours. He ignores the activities that affect his career and image.

How tall is Ryan Jamaal Swain? Weight

Ryan Jamaal Swain has maintained a good body shape and has a decent height. Similarly, he has black hair and brown colour eyes. His other body measurements including height, weight, chest-biceps size, dress size, and shoe size are under review.

Social Media: Instagram and Twitter

The actor is quite active on Instagram and holds more than 279k followers. He has posted around 27 posts on Instagram under the username “@ryanjamaalswain”.

However, he is not active on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Ryan Jamaal Swain's Birthday Dates