Mercenary Jayne Cobb is hard to pin down. Rash, impulsive, but behaving according to his own complex moral code, he clashes with members of the crew (particularly Simon and River Tam) as well as with fellow fly-by-night brawlers. Despite his calculating nature, Jayne also has a softer side, sending money back home to his mother and wearing a flap-eared knit cap she’d made for him.
Adam Baldwin was a perfect choice to portray Cobb, as he’s an expert at playing tough guys and no-nonsense figures with some kind of military connection. Prior to “Firefly,” Baldwin appeared as heavies in ’80s classics such as “Full Metal Jacket” and “My Bodyguard,” and afterward he played armed and high-ranking officers on “NCIS,” “JAG,” “Stargate SG-1,” and “Law and Order: SVU.” Most notably, for five years he held down the role of stern, highly-trained Marine-turned-NSA agent John Casey on the action-comedy “Chuck.” Baldwin’s most recent regular series role is that of Admiral Mike Slattery on the long-running TNT drama “The Last Ship.”
Baldwin is active in the video game world, providing his voice to many titles, including “Halo 3” and “Mass Effect 2.” In 2015, according to Reason, Baldwin reportedly coined the hashtag #GamerGate, which would come to be associated with a harassment campaign against several female figures in the gaming world.