Trivia Tuesday: Jayma Mays

Her father taught for seven years at her high school and then worked as a coal miner for 25 years.

Jayma's original name was Jamia, the female form of James, after her father. It was constantly mispronounced so they changed it to Jaima, and eventually Jayma.

She has worked as a wedding singer.

She has had a recurring role in the shows Heroes and Ugly Betty, where in both she has played a character named Charlie.

Jayma is capable of singing Gospel, Musical Theatre and Country Western musical styles.

She loves Indian food.  She also has a peanut butter sandwich every day.

Jayma can speak in American Southern, Appalachian, British, Cockney, French, German and Irish accents.

She was a big fan of the director Wess Craven even before playing a part in his movie Red Eye.

She is a skilled pianist.

Jayma has been trained in dances like Ballroom, Country Western, Disco, Folk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Modern and Swing.

She was featured in the music video "Awakening" for the rock band Switchfoot. She played an unnamed character who enthusiastically dances to the single on a Dance Dance Revolution mat.

In her spare time, she enjoys multiplying fractions and doing long division.

(About her time in high school) "I don't know how other people preceived me, but I don't feel like I ever fit in anywhere. I did a little bit of everything. I was a cheerleader. I did Mathletes. I was really across-the-board, like a nutcase. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, so I just did everything. I was even part of FHA, Future Homemakers of America. How lost was I? As you can see today..."

(On why she wanted to be a part of Glee) "First of all, it was when I found out Ryan Murphy was involved (I knew that before I had even read the script). I think he is brilliant and I love everything he does. That intrigued me right away. Then, when I read it I fell in love with the character. The second I read it I thought, 'Gosh, if I could be a part of this project it would be fantastic.' It had everything going for it. It's different, quirky, it's a fight for the underdog and it's got music in it. Everything about it made it a no-brainer situation."

(On the most memorable part of filming Glee) "With the first episode, you never know what it is going to be like. You read it and you think it sounds fantastic, but when you do it together, what's it going to be? I can remember sitting in the audience watching the performance of a really great Glee Club. They are performing the song "Rehab," which you may have seen the clips for. I can remember watching them dance and they are flipping around, singing and doing all these crazy moves. It's like the most professional performance that I've ever seen and I can remember just sitting in the audience watching them and thinking, 'Oh my goodness! This is the most amazing production of anything I've ever been a part of!' During the pilot while we were watching this, I thought, 'Gosh, if this gets picked up I'll be the happiest girl in the world!'

(On work) "I did work at a mall in college - I think retail/customer service is just one of the most hideous jobs in the world. So I always try to be extra nice when I go into a store. But malls are part of our culture, if you watched any teen comedy in the '80s. it's clear that malls are where we live!"

(On the hardest part of playing her character in Glee) "Trying not to bring Emma's mysophobia home with me. Last week I plastic-wrapped all my furniture ... and bleached my cats."

(On her role in Heroes) "I have been recognized a lot more since being on the show, but by the most enjoyable and extremely supportive fans. I was actually approached a few weeks ago by a Japanese couple that assumed I spoke their native language...so half of the conversation was me trying to convince them that I couldn't understand a word they were saying."