Suffering a mild concussion when he was 13 years old, the athletic James wasn't permitted to play on the football team that year. So, for the first time, he decided to try out for the school's play and landed the leading role for Danny Zuko in the school's production of "Grease". Bitten by the acing bug, he continued to do local children's theater in his hometown of Cheshire, Connecticut.
He was focused on acting at age 16, so his mother agreed one summer to travel three hours to New York City, in order for him to pursue acting professionally. While he landed an agent and a manager on their first visit, he didn't find much success for commericals.
The next year he was on the cast in the Off-Board play, "Finding the Sun", which was written and directed by Edward Albee. He describes this as the defining experience for him as an actor. He commuted six hours everyday during a three month run for rehearsals and performances in the middle of high school. After that experience he starred in "Shenandoah" at the Goodspeed Opera House.
His first on-screen performance with the starring role the 1995 feature film "Angus". He is featured in the upcoming release "I Love You...I Love You Not" wtih Claire Danes. He also in the recently independent feature film "Harvest".
A dean's list student, James received an academic scholarship from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He majors in English with a minor in socialogy. In his free time, he enjoys writing and playing all kinds of sports.
