Xelia Mendes-Jones is making his second television appearance, playing Dane on Amazon Prime Video's Fallout.
All eight episodes of the new series based on the video game of the same name are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, with Mendes-Jones' Dane appearing in two of them.
They first appear in Episode 1, titled "The End," before showing up once more in Episode 8, titled "The Beginning."
[ Fallout TV Show Cast, Characters & Actors (Photos) ]
Who Is Xelia Mendes-Jones from Fallout?
Xelia Mendes-Jones — seemingly 26 or 27 years old, given that they were a first-year at Cambridge in 2016 — plays Dane on Amazon Prime Video's Fallout series.
Growing up, he lived in London, and in addition to having attended Cambridge is an alum of the Identity School of Acting.
His name is pronounced "Kse-lee-ah," and he has been posting about his dog on his Instagram story for more than six years.
What else should fans know about them?
Xelia Was Lauded for His First Big TV Gig
Mendes-Jones is set to star in one upcoming movie — Havoc, alongside Tom Hardy, Timothy Olyphant, and Forest Whitaker — and has been in two major television shows.
Of course, he is currently on Amazon Prime Video playing Dane in Fallout, but before that, they had a four-episode stint on the latest season of The Wheel of Time, playing Renna.
His performance as Renna got high praise from fans. They were impressed by his portrayal of this character, described by @KassanWarrad on X (formerly Twitter) as "cruel, focused, and arrogant."
@Gomjabbar3508 on X said that Mendes-Jones was "one of the best things to come from this series [The Wheel of Time]," while @disabled_writer called his performance "UNREAL" and "AMAZING."
Xelia Uses He/Him and They/Them Pronouns, in that Preference Order
Mendes-Jones has been very vocal about what pronouns he uses, making sure their fans can always refer to him correctly.
He had once posted that he used, in preference order, he/him, they/them, and she/her, but said that "the she/her is only there because [he is] non-confrontational lol."
In early 2024, though, he told Instagram that he "only really use[s] he/they now," and that "if you still refer to [him] as female, that's on you at this stage."
However, he made it clear that if he is playing a character who uses different pronouns, he "always totally [understands] confusion/learning" if people accidentally misgender them.
Xelia Starred in a Music Video with Maisie Williams
Mendes-Jones and Maisie Williams (of Game of Thrones fame) played a young couple in the music video (via EQ Music Blog) for "She’s On My Mind" by Romy in 2023.
The two actors tell a sweet, visual story of falling in love and sharing a first kiss at a nightclub, set to the catchy tune of Romy's song — which, naturally, is about similar themes.
You can watch the music video here:
He Is an Athlete — A Medal-Winning One, At That
Beyond the screen, Mendes-Jones has plenty of experience in athletics.
When Mendes-Jones was in high school (per X user @LondonHeathside), he won several awards for javelin throwing — even breaking club records. (Note: the social media posts linked use now-incorrect pronouns to refer to Mendes-Jones).
Their Instagram page reveals that he has experience in soccer (per Instagram), having played around 2016-2017:
Mendes-Jones also rock climbs, as shown on his Instagram account in 2022.
They Modeled During His Time at Cambridge
While studying at Cambridge, Mendes-Jones was also a model.
He told The Cambridge Student (TCS) that he was scouted during his first year, before going through the process of joining an agency.
They would go to casting after casting, he told TCS, and found Fashion Week to be "one of the hardest times" when it came to facing rejection.
He talked to TCS about how "demoralizing" the casting process can be, saying that he has to go in expecting to "be treated as a coat-hanger/slab of meat/whatever cliché model 'synonym' you want to pick:"
"One particular casting I went to this year completely demoralized me, and when they sent me a second casting for the same place after they had a drop-out, my agent was completely understanding of why I didn’t want to go. But as long as you set yourself up for the expectation that you will be treated as a coat-hanger/slab of meat/whatever cliché model 'synonym' you want to pick, it is fine."
He acknowledged to TCS the racial minority he felt in the modeling world, but said they did not "feel like making a song and dance about it:"
"I am half Indian and I met very few models of any mix let alone Indian descent in over forty castings this year. However, I personally don’t feel like making a song and dance over it. It’s a far bigger problem in other industries and I’m reticent to over-politicize everything."
To him, he told TCS, his racial identity proved far more meaningful in acting circles — circles that he now participates in on television and movie screens:
"The plays that are put on are often tempting to give an all-white case. Theatre is virtually archaic in its representation. ... Macbeth of lent term last year was the perfect example of this – a play that would normally feature a token BME actor (Shakespeare productions at Cambridge are unconsciously notorious for this) was made up of every variety of BME actor with no 'logical' casting. I.e. if one member of a family group was Chinese, that doesn’t mean their child character was too – and yet the play still worked perfectly and received some of the best reviews of any piece of theatre last academic year."
Xelia Mendes-Jones appears in Fallout and The Wheel of Time, both of which are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
