James Norton
James Norton
James Geoffrey Ian Nortonis an English actor. He is best known for roles in the British TV series Happy Valley, Grantchester and War & Peace. For his role as ex-convict Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley, Norton was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2015...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth18 July 1985
CityLondon, England
character field playing time
You don't want a character who sits on an even playing field the whole time.
characters compare fantasy next remote shocking
If you compare the violence in 'Happy Valley' to the violence in something like 'Game of Thrones,' it's nothing. But it is shocking because it's so real and grounded. The characters could live next door to you - they're not in a remote fantasy world.
character judging cynical
If you're constantly stepping outside of the character and judging them, you'll never really be able to fully engage because you'll always be slightly cynical.
character trying spend-time
You really try to work the character out and spend time in the headspace of the character. That's what I did.
I wanted to do a degree in something I was interested in before going into acting.
art religion rooted secular
We live in secular world now, but most of our art and culture is rooted in religion.
'Happy Valley' has really changed things for me.
crashed
I crashed my bicycle on the way to my first date with my ex-girlfriend and was cautioned by the police.
age grew life until
I grew up in the countryside, so I had quite a feral life up until the age of about fourteen.
distant great
For any actor, it's a great privilege to play a character that is very distant from yourself.
buying convinced fit men problem senseless sold stop time vintage
For a long time I had a vintage stall, where I sold men's vintage clothing, and my girlfriend was convinced it was just to do with a problem I had where I just couldn't stop buying senseless clothes, even if they didn't fit me.
asking courage good musician people takes
It takes a lot of courage, when everyone is asking you what you want to do, if you say that you want to be a musician or an actor; people can be very condescending and say, 'Oh, that's so sweet, good luck with that!' It can be very frustrating.
playing
When I was playing a psychopath in 'Happy Valley,' it was really weird.
When I got into drama school, that's when I knew that I could safely say that I wanted to be a professional actor.