Theo James
Birthdate: Dec 16, 1984
Birthplace: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Theo James (birthname: Theodore Peter James Kinnaird Taptiklis) is a busy British film, TV, and stage actor best known for his recurring roles in the Underworld and Divergent series, and who made his feature debut in Woody Allen’s comedy-drama, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010), co-starring Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch and Naomi Watts, and which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and was a money-loser for distributor Sony Pictures Classics.
James played a supporting role in the British coming-of-age comedy based on the U.K. sitcom, The Inbetweeners (2011), written by series creator Damon Beesley and Iain Morris and directed by Ben Palmer, with Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, and Joe Thomas, and grossing a terrific $88 million in its U.K. and U.S. releases.
James landed the recurrent role of David in both Underworld: Awakening (2012) and Underworld: Blood Wars (2016), both starring Kate Beckinsale and released by Sony Pictures Releasing (via producers Screen Gems/Lakeshore Entertainment/LStar Capital) for a combined $241 million gross.
James experienced his movie breakthrough with the recurring role of Tobias in the Divergent series, beginning with Divergent (2014), and then The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) and The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016), all starring Shailene Woodley, and released by Lionsgate to a combined return of $765 million.
James co-starred with Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning, Clarke Peters, and Dylan Baker in director/writer Andrew Renzi’s drama, The Benefactor (2015), premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival and released by Samuel Goldwyn Films. James was both star and executive producer of director/co-writer Per Fly’s U.N. political thriller co-starring Ben Kingsley, Backstabbing for Beginners (2018), and also for the crime drama, Lying and Stealing (2019), with Emily Ratajkowski, Fred Melamed, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Isiah Whitlock Jr. under Matt Aselton’s direction and released by Vertical.
James joined Amber Heard, Jim Sturgess, Jason Isaacs, and Cara Delevingne in the screen version of Martin Amis’s 1989 novel, London Fields (2018), scripted by Amis and co-writer Roberta Hanley and directed by Mathew Cullen, and released by GVN Releasing after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. James was a co-star (with Stacy Martin) and a lead producer of director/writer Gavin Rothery’s sci-fi A.I. drama, Archive (2020), which was shown only digitally by Vertical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Theo James co-starred in another sci-fi movie, director/writer/producer Riley Stearns’s Dual (2022), with Karen Gillian and Aaron Paul which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival before a release by RLJE Films to poor box office (less than a half million dollars returns on $4.5 million costs). James turned to period drama as part of the ensemble of the UK/Ireland/US co-production, Mr. Malcolm’s List (2022), starring Freida Pinto, Sope Dirisu, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen under Emma Holly Jones’s direction, and released by Bleecker Street (US)/Vertigo Releasing (UK)/Universal Pictures (rest-of-world).
James turned to the horror genre by co-starring with Tatiana Maslany in the big-screen Stephen King adaptation, The Monkey (2025), directed and written by horror specialist Osgood Perkins and released wide by Neon. James co-starred with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Sam Worthington, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the British heist movie directed by David Mackenzie, Fuze (date to be announced), and then James starred with Hoyeon under Kim Jee-woon’s direction in the U.S/South Korea thriller, The Hole (date to be announced), co-written by Christopher Chen and Hye-young Pyun.
Personal life
Theo James was born in High Wycombe, England, and raised in the British hamlet of Askett by parents Philip (business consultant) and Jane Taptiklis (National Health Service staffer). James has two older sisters and two older brothers. James attended Aylesbury Grammar School and then attended and graduated from the University of Nottingham, where he had a degree in Philosophy. After graduating, James studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he met his future wife, Irish actor Ruth Kearney; the couple has two children. James’s height is 6’. James’s estimated net worth is $4 million.
Awards
Winner, Star of Tomorrow Award, Screen International Awards (2009);
Independent Spirit Award
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Actor
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Theo James Movies
actor
Previous (21)
- 2025 |
The Monkey
asHal
When twin brothers Bill and Hal find their father's old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.
- 2022 |
- 2022 |
- 2021 | Alone with You
- 2021 | The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolfas Vesemir
- 2021 |
How It Ends
asWill Younger
How It Ends
In this feel-good apocalyptic comedy, Liza (Zoe Lister-Jones) embarks on a hilarious journey through LA in hopes of making it to her last party before it all ends, running into an eclectic cast of characters along the way.
- 2020 |
- 2019 | Lying and Stealingas Ivan Warding
- 2018 | Backstabbing for Beginnersas Michael
- 2018 | The War of the Worlds: The Musical Dramaas The Parson
- 2018 | Zoeas Ash
- 2018 |
London Fields
asGuy Clinch
Clairvoyant femme fatale Nicola Six has been living with a dark premonition of her impending death by murder. She begins a tangled love affair with three uniquely different men: one of whom she knows will be her murderer.
- 2016 | The Secret Scriptureas Father Gaunt
- 2017 |
Underworld: Blood Wars
asDavid
Vampire death dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) fights to end the eternal war between the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her.
- 2016 | War on Everyoneas Lord James Mangan
- 2016 |
- 2015 | The Benefactoras Luke
- 2015 |
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
asFour
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side.
- 2014 |
- 2012 | The Domino Effectas Dinner Party Guest
- 2012 |
Underworld: Awakening
asDavid
When human forces discover the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans, a war to eradicate both species commences. The vampire warrior Selene leads the battle against humankind.
Facts About Theo James
Shingle: Theo James formed his own production company for movie and TV projects, titled Untapped, in 2019.
Fret Man: James has played guitar, as well as sung, with bands including the London-based Shere Khan.
Cause: Theo James took up the cause of Syrian refugees when he began working with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees in 2016 and has continued to support their claims for rights and assistance as stateless people.
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