Cast & creator
Adam James
Best known for Death in Paradise, You, Grantchester
Adam James was born on 9 September 1972. Adam trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1996. He worked extensively in both TV and Theatre early on in his career, receiving a Best Newcomer nomination at the M.E.N awards for his work at the Royal Exchange and then coming to prominence in 2001 in 'Band of Brothers'. This followed a string of notable guest leads in such popular shows as Extras, Ashes to Ashes, Hustle, Dr. Who and Foyles War. In 2010 he performed in New York in 'The Pride' along side Ben Whishaw and Andrea Riseborough for which he won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role and also received the Drama Desk Nomination. He would return in 2013, this time Off Broadway with the critically acclaimed and Olivier Award winning play "Bull", only to return to Broadway once more in 2016 with the Olivier and Critics Circle award winning play "King Charles III" in which Adam played the Prime Minister, and later received the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2015, the same year in which he appeared in another Mike Bartlett hit "Dr.Foster", he married the former actress Victoria Shalet. Their first child was born in September 2016, and Adam has an adult daughter from a previous relationship. Adam then continued his collaboration with Mike Bartlett by filming both the much anticipated second series of Dr.Foster alongside a TV film version of King Charles III for BBC2. He has since returned to the stage and London's West End in the Olivier Award Winning "Girl From The North Country" at the Noel Coward Theatre and the hugely critically acclaimed "Consent" having transferred with it from the National Theatre. More recently he reunited with Rupert Goold for the world premiere of Anne Washburn's new play "Shipwreck" at the Almeida Theatre. His most recent Television work includes Julian Fellowes' new period drama "Belgravia" for ITV and Epix in the US (produced by Carnival the team behind Downtown Abbey) and also the hugely successful and critically acclaimed 12 part series "I May Destroy You" for the BBC and HBO, written, performed, produced an co-directed by Michaela Coel.
32
film credits
49
television credits
81
1992–2026 · acting roles
7.0
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (81)
Showing 81 of 81 credits
Death in Paradise
Rick Mayhew
2011
You
Elliot Tannenberg
2018
Grantchester
James Heath
2014
Lewis
Ethan Croft
2007
The Day of the Jackal
Jeremy Whitelock
2024
Sharpe
Cpt. Philip Carline
1993
Band of Brothers
Cleveland O. Petty
2001
Waking the Dead
Michael Leonard
2001
Hustle
Carlton Wood
2004
A Touch of Frost
Gregory Salmond
1992
Endeavour
Kent Finn
2013
Foyle's War
Major Wesker
2002
Wicked: For Good
Galinda's Popsicle
2025
Celebrity Mastermind
Self - Contestant
2003
Young Sherlock
Doctor Maltby
2026
Law & Order: LA
Max Steinberg
2010
Celebrity Catchphrase
2018
Wicked
Galinda's Popsicle
2024
Vigil
Lt Commander Mark Prentice
2021
The Buccaneers
Colonel St. George
2023
Hunter Killer
Captain Forbes
2018
Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Matt
2007
Ashes to Ashes
Edward Markham
2008
Dalgliesh
Alex Mayer
2021
The Couple Next Door
Ben Gregston
2023
We Live in Time
Simon Maxson
2024
Hotel Babylon
2006
As If
Richard
2001
Johnny English Strikes Again
Pegasus
2018
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
Titus
2006
I May Destroy You
Julian
2020
Murder Before Evensong
Bernard De Floures
2025
The Game
George
2014
The Long Shadow
Desmond Wilcox
2023
A Little Chaos
Monsieur De Barra
2015
Treason
Patrick Hamilton
2022
Love Soup
2005
Hotel Portofino
Jack Turner
2022
Vexed
Charlie Brewer
2010
Family Tree
Ronnie Chadwick
2013
Thicker Than Water
Gavin Leonard
2014
The Suspect
Dr. Gerald 'Jack' Owens
2022
Last Chance Harvey
Josh Hillman
2008
Life
Neil Baker
2020
The Kill Team
Hardin
2019
Belgravia
John Bellasis
2020
The Crimson Field
Colonel Charles Purbright
2014
The Amazing Mrs Pritchard
Mark McCaffrey
2006
Mr Bates vs The Post Office
Patrick Green QC
2024
Bonekickers
2008
The Lost Battalion
Capt. Nelson Holderman
2001
Wired
Simon
2008
Catherine Tate's Nan
Charles Wilmott
2015
Harley Street
2008
1066: A Year to Conquer England
Harold Godwinson
2017
King Charles III
Prime Minister Tristram Evans
2017
Home from Home
Robert Dillon
2018
Murder on the Orient Express
William MacQueen
2001
Kilimanjaro
Thomas
2013
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead
DI McMillan
2009Sold
2007
Meucci - L'italiano che inventò il telefono
William Ryder
2005
Much Ado About Nothing
Don Pedro
2011
Sharpe's Regiment
Captain Carline
1996
Sharpe: The Legend
Carline
1997
Three Blind Mice
1st Exec (uncredited)
2003
Eric, Ernie and Me
Ernest Maxin
2017
The Penitent: A Rational Man
Richard Marlow
2023
Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole in My Heart
Rupert
2006
Consuming Passion
Mick
2008
Choked Up
Robert West
2023
Coalition
Jeremy Heywood
2015
1066: A Year to Conquer England
Harold Godwinson
2017
National Theatre Live: Consent
Jake
2017
Out of the Grey
Henry
2023
The Mother of Tears
Michael Pierce
2007
The Execution of Gary Glitter
John Carter QC
2009
Sleep with Me
MacDara
2009Reversals
Dr. Glen Morrow
2003
Churchill's First World War
Winston Churchill
2013England Expects
Daniel
2004