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
When people say, 'You're perceived as a sex symbol,' I love the idea of that because it's so absurd.
I grew up loving women and without misogyny, rancour or prejudice, totally loved and loving. And no matter what has happened since, I don't think I have treated women in my life very badly.
Love your parents, but don't have them as your mates.
People love watching medical dramas - they also love watching documentaries about the workings of the brain.
You don't learn charm. It's not something that you can acquire. I have used it much in my life with great success, but it's not necessarily what makes me an actor. It became a very easy label to attach to me. It also feels a bit dismissive. People go, 'You're so lovely and charming', but it's a wee bit, 'That's all you are.'
I love nothing more than going to eat by myself with a newspaper.
I loved my time growing up in Northern Ireland doing youth drama, that is where it all began for me.
I've never felt that acting was my vocation - never had that tortured thing. I love acting, but it doesn't feed my soul.
While I've never 'phoned in' a performance, I think I have given some performances where I could have been a bit braver.
When I was growing up, Belfast City Hall was surrounded by security, and we had no access to it. But now, people come in and out of it all the time. On a nice day, office workers and students sit on the lawn outside and have lunch. It's great to see how Northern Ireland has changed. To be part of that is fantastic.
Before I read the 'Bloody Sunday' script, I have to admit I hadn't thought about it that much. There was probably even part of me which assumed there was no smoke without fire. That the Catholics who were shot must have done something to provoke such a response from the army. I was extremely ignorant of the whole situation.
Belfast is a city which, while not forgetting its past, is living comfortably with its present and looking forward to its future.
Because I grew up with women, I have a certain amount of charm, and I'm all right to get on with, kind enough, funny enough, blah blah blah.
As I told Piers Morgan, 'Catholics have confession, whereas Northern Irish Protestants only have interviews.'