James Ransone is an American actor and former musician from Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known for his roles as Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of HBO's The Wire, and Corporal Josh Ray Person in the Iraq War-based mini-series Generation Kill. At the age of twenty-seven Ransone had developed a heroin habit and a debt of $30,000, but radically altered his lifestyle in moving to Namibia for eight months, undergoing immersion into his role as Person in Generation Kill. He appears in a small recurring role in the HBO series Treme. In 2011, Ransone and Michael Zegen were cast in recurring roles in the HBO comedy series How to Make It in America. Ransone appeared in the show's pilot episode and will reportedly play the same role.