James Henri-Thomas is a British actor and model with French heritage, educated at the exclusive Bradfield College near London where he took part in numerous productions in its acclaimed open-air Greek Theatre. He knew from the age of four when he spoke his first lines on stage that acting was what he enjoyed doing more than anything else. Throughout his school career he appeared in countless plays and musicals including Bugsy in 'Bugsy Malone', the Narrator in 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat', Hamlet in 'Hamlet', Macheath in 'The Beggar's Opera' and Orsino in 'Twelfth Night'. At the age of twelve James was accepted into the National Youth Music Theatre and spent his summer vacations touring the UK with the company, including appearances at Belfast's Lyric Theatre and Edinburgh's George Square Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Festival. James went on to major in Drama at the University of Exeter where he had the opportunity to perform in several productions at the Northcott Theatre, playing Riff in 'West Side Story', Mr Farthing in 'Kes' and Emmanuel Giri, one of his favourite parts, in 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'. James is also a consummate musician, having attained top-level Grade 8 certifications in Piano, Singing and Alto Saxophone. He has enjoyed playing with several musical groups including the esteemed Laurie Holloway Jazz Trio.
Inspired by actors such as Gary Oldman, Paul Whitehouse, John Newman and Alec Guinness, James developed a strong desire to one day play complex, challenging and humorous characters on stage and screen. After further training at the Met Film School at Ealing Studios he landed his first ever film role as the lead in 'Beneath the Diamond Sky'. A supporting role in 'OK, Nothing' quickly followed, as well as the lead in the critically-acclaimed 'Future Got No Past', a contemporary British drama about a young man learning to deal with his tumultuous surroundings on the drug-fueled streets of London. These experiences confirmed what James had always known - that the film and TV industry is what he is most cut out for, although he will always take the opportunity to return to the stage, most recently playing Arthur the Nightclub Owner in 'The Far Side' at the London fringe. It was shortly after these experiences in short films that James became involved in big-budget feature films including 'FURY', 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E' and 'Star Wars Rogue One' at Pinewood Studios - fulfilling yet another of his lifelong dreams. He has also landed lead roles in high-profile commercials, music videos and modelling shoots which have taken him to Switzerland and Norway. Such a variety of experiences at such a young age have taught James to always take the opportunity to learn from the many accomplished practitioners he is fortunate to meet and work with along the way.
Despite this list of personal achievements, James does not only look out for himself. He has a caring nature and is always interested in helping other younger actors. Like any actor James has his fair share of down time, and when he is not working on screen or stage he works as an acting coach training high school LAMDA pupils, helping boys and girls to develop their performance skills, confidence and artistic flare. James has also worked at Eton College's Farrer Theatre introducing Shakespeare to underprivileged children from poor areas of London. Here James helped to direct and produce a thought-provoking adaptation of 'Romeo & Juliet' that bore relevance to the children's personal situations and that would also speak to a targeted audience of their friends and families. James played an integral role in this pioneering project which, for some of the children who until then had never been on a theatre stage, was a life-affirming experience.
Although James has just played the lead in the award-winning WWI drama 'Shells', Cassius in 'Julius Caesar' and is about to play a featured role in an upcoming BBC documentary, he still spends time actively taking part in acting workshops and expanding his personal development, a practice which he knows is an essential part of building a successful acting career.
