His film roles also include The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), Predators (2010), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), and Alita: Battle Angel (2019).

[1] Early on in life, Mears had a severe case of the auto-immune disease alopecia, causing him to lose almost all his body hair.

He was recommended to the producers, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form of Platinum Dunes, by make-up and special effects guru Scott Stoddard, who created the new look for Mears' character, Jason Voorhees.

He was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in the category for Best Villain for his portrayal of Voorhees, but lost to Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Mears did a lot of research on child development to flesh out the role of Camp Crystal Lake's notorious resident serial killer: In the script, Jason watches his mother die in front of him.

[13] In a series of adverts for the insurance company Direct Line shown in 2021, Mears portrayed the character RoboCop.