James Nesbitt
James Nesbitt
William James Nesbitt, OBEis an actor and presenter from Northern Ireland. Born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Nesbitt grew up in the nearby village of Broughshane, before moving to Coleraine, County Londonderry. He wanted to become a teacher like his father, so he began a degree in French at the University of Ulster. He dropped out after a year when he decided to become an actor, and transferred to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. After graduating in...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth15 January 1965
CountryIreland
I love nothing more than going to eat by myself with a newspaper.
I have three older sisters who, when we were children, used to hold me down on a bad day and put make-up all over me, so I've had an aversion to it all my life and hate sitting down in the make-up chair.
If I get to the end of my life, and people say, 'He was in 'Cold Feet,' well, I was, and it was great. I thought the fourth series wasn't great. I thought there were weak episodes throughout. Overall, I thought it was a good show, it had an impact, it dealt with a lot of issues, and it was a great part.
I lived a dual life, and when my dual life exploded, I began to feel much happier.
I get an awful lot of people coming up and saying they went to school with me. There must have been 80,000 pupils at that school!
If you are a Northern Irish actor, maybe subconsciously more than consciously, you do have an instinctive responsibility at some point to tackle the recent history of where we have come from. It's not only a responsibility, but a privilege.
I don't think I'll be doing a lot more commercials.
Martin Freeman as [Bilbo] is just a revelation.
Like the character I played in Jekyll, we all have different masks we put on for different occasions. As much as we all want to lead decent lives, we're also attracted by the idea that something dark may lurk within us,
Funnily enough, Northern Ireland is a great example of where politics can win over conflict. The decision to down arms and follow a political path would have been unthinkable once. It shows just what is possible.
The thing to remember is that the work comes first, and not to get distracted by anything else. If you keep focused on the work, everything else will fall into place. That's my mantra now.
Ours was a very progressive Protestant family, but my parents were God-loving rather than God-fearing. We went to church, and I still go with my mum and dad when I return home - it's a family thing. I played flute in my dad's marching band, but I had an integrated upbringing. We had a lot of Catholic friends.
I've heard some duff Irish accents. The worst must be Mickey Rourke.
I never forget that I'm extremely fortunate.