Theo James Net Worth

Biography of Theo James

Theo James is a young British actor who became a real Hollywood sensation after the release of the first part of the sensational Divergent franchise.

Childhood of Theo James

Theo James was born on December 16, 1984 in Oxford, the capital of the southern county of Oxfordshire. He was the youngest of five children in the family. The actor’s father, business consultant Philip Teptiklis, is of Greek origin, but was born and raised in New Zealand, where his family moved from the Peloponnese. Mother, Jane Martin, in whose veins flows Scottish blood, was an employee of the National Health Service.

The actor considered his childhood cloudless and happy: he simply bathed in parental love. Therefore, it was his father and mother who became an example for him to follow: “My main inspiration is my parents. They raised five children and gave them all the best.”

Theo inherited an atypical appearance for a Briton – dark hair and almost black eyes he inherited from his father, and from his mother he received beautiful plump lips. The actor claimed that it was thanks to the type of “sensual macho” that the directors noticed him: “I know that I often get a job because of how I look, but I hope that I keep it because of how I play.”

About his years at Aylesbury High School, James said: “I was a normal middle-class kid who listened to hip-hop all the time and played basketball. I tried to look much cooler than I really was. We had a whole group of guys, we called ourselves one team.

After graduating in 2001, Theo continued his studies at the University of Nottingham, where he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. At this time, he was in love with a girl who dreamed of playing on stage and persuaded her boyfriend to go with her to an audition at an acting school. Fate decreed in a very ironic way: James was considered a “promising guy” and accepted into the Bristol Theater School, and his companion was left behind.

James never regretted his choice: “I was thinking about a writing career. But in fact, I always wanted to do acting, to join the ranks of famous, respected artists. So it is unlikely that I would have used my education for its intended purpose. Although during his studies the young man had to earn extra money as a barista, a bodyguard, and an orderly, he played brilliantly in all productions and soon attracted the attention of directors.

Early career of Theo James

Theo Jame got his first acting experience on the stage of the theater: in 2009 he made his debut in the play Stars of Tomorrow.

In 2010, the aspiring actor appeared on the television screen in an episode of the series Passionate Woman. The 25-year-old handsome man got the role of Alexander Krazenowski, the lover of Betty’s girlfriend, played by Billie Piper.

The three-minute appearance of James in the acclaimed series Downton Abbey did not go unnoticed. He again played the fatal cavalier – this time he got the role of the Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk, who had his eye on Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery).

In the same year, Theo James managed to break into the world of big cinema: he played the role of Ray in Woody Allen’s film You Will Meet a Mysterious Stranger.

In 2011, Theo James was introduced to the main cast of several projects at once. The first serious work of the rookie actor was the main role in the television drama Bedlam, broadcast by the Sky Living channel. Soon, James was invited to the sitcom The Overgrowns, a comedy about the misadventures of British teenagers while on vacation in Crete.

In 2012, Mans Marlind offered the young actor the lead role in the fourth part of the Underworld: Awakening franchise. To perfectly get used to the role, Theo, along with Kate Beckinsale, began to study parkour, and also trained a lot with knives and whips. Vampire David performed by James was so convincing that the producers offered the actor to continue cooperation in the fifth part of the Underworld: The Next Generation franchise.

In the same 2012, James got several episodic roles in the films of famous directors. Theo played a guest at a dinner party in Paula van der Ust’s The Domino Effect and an officer in Anthony Hemingway’s war film Red Tails, based on the book of the same name by John Hallway. He also appeared in the crime drama Point of Salvation broadcast by ITV. After that, the popular British tabloid Screen International called the actor “the star of tomorrow.”

In 2013, James left to conquer America. In Hollywood, he made his debut as detective Walter Clark in the crime detective Lucky. To prepare for filming, the young actor studied the work of the police “from the inside”: he spent several days side by side with detectives from the New York Department of the Interior. The project did not meet the expectations of the producers, and it was closed after the first season.

The heyday of Theo James. “Divergent”

In March 2013, Theo James was called to audition for the film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s dystopian bestseller Divergent. The novel describes a future society divided into five caste “fractions”; each resident, upon reaching the age of 16, is tested, according to the results of which he takes his rightful place in one of them.

After multi-stage auditions, Theo James was approved for one of the main roles – Tobias Eaton, the instructor of the so-called “divergents” (phenomenon people with multifaceted abilities). At the casting, Theo outperformed his main competitors – Alex Pettifer and Jeremy Irvine.

After the premiere on March 21, 2014, Tobias “Four” Eaton became the idol of millions of teenagers. “I was very lucky with the team and the director. Neil Berger is a real professional, he is very smart and has great taste. It was also great to work with Shailene Woodley. On the set, we had an almost homely atmosphere, it helps a newcomer a lot, ”Theo James said about filming in Divergent.

In May 2014, the shooting of the sequel “Insurgent” began. The world premiere of the second part of the franchise took place on March 20, 2015, and exactly one year later, in March 2016, the audience saw the third part, “Divergent, Chapter 3: Beyond the Wall” (in the American box office, the picture was called “Alligent”).

In between filming of the franchise, Theo James managed to add a drama called “Franny” (or “The Benefactor”) to his filmography. The picture about the complicated relationship between the character of Richard Gere and the newlyweds Luke and Olivia (the young actress Dakota Fanning became Theo’s partner) was presented to the audience in 2015.

In the same year, the actor became the face of The Scent fragrance by Hugo Boss.

If in 2014 the name of Theo James appeared in the press next to such epithets as “discovery of the year” and “young talent”, then just two years later the public unanimously recognized him as one of the most popular Hollywood actors of the new generation.

In 2016, there were four promising premieres at once with Theo James: the fifth part of the Underworld franchise, the black “police” comedy War Against All with Alexander Skarsgård, and the Irish director Jim Sheridan’s drama based on Sebastian Barry’s novel The Tablets of Doom with Rooney Mara in the title role and the third part of “Divergent”.

Theo James’ musical career

Theo never hid his love for music: “I love music! Nothing can be better than listening to music after coming home tired after a trip.” The actor has a good baritone voice, in addition to everything, he can play the guitar, piano, saxophone and harmonica.

Even while studying at the university, James was the lead singer of the Makora band, and in 2010 he organized his own band Shere Khan, naming it after the famous tiger Shere Khan from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. In addition to Theo, who was both lead singer and guitarist, the band also included bassist Joy Sharratt, rhythm guitarist Will Earle, and drummer Sam Sweeney.

Members of Shere Khan have described their music as a mixture of mix dance, indie, rock and punk. They were rarely seen on the big stage; musicians uploaded their creations to MySpace and SoundCloud pages. Internet listeners especially liked their songs “Straight Up”, “Skin” and “Can’t Complain”. However, due to the band leader’s busy schedule, in November 2012, Shere Khan’s official Facebook page announced the breakup.

Personal life of Theo James

In 2009, Theo met aspiring Irish actress Ruth Kearney, his acting school partner. The couple did not advertise their relationship, which gave rise to a lot of rumors and conjectures.

After the release of the first part of “Divergent”, fans started talking about the romance of Theo James and Shailene Woodley, citing the fact that “they played love too convincingly.” Adding fuel to the fire was the actor’s comment about Four and Tris’ first kiss: “Sometimes you have to make the chemistry show up on set. Must call her. But when you don’t, because it’s all very real and natural, it only adds to the scenes in the most positive way. Shailene and I have natural chemistry.” Later, the actors were even awarded the Teen Choice Award for Best On-Screen Couple.

In the summer of 2014, famous pop singer Taylor Swift hinted that she considers Theo to be the sexiest actor in Hollywood. James’ fans immediately began to develop the topic of a romance between the stars, but James remained true to his principles and did not comment on these rumors.

In 2015, the press brought Theo and Ruth Kearney together again. The paparazzi caught them in a jewelry store, where the stars were looking at a window with rings. The actors often fell under the scope of the cameras while walking around New York together, but there was no official confirmation of their romance.

Theo James now

Theo James is not going to slow down in his acting career: in 2018, several major premieres with his participation are expected at once. These are the crime thriller London Fields, based on the novel of the same name by Martin Amis, starring Amber Heard and Jamie Alexander, and the political thriller Betrayal for Beginners, where Theo played the UN coordinator, whose head during the mission in Iraq becomes the diplomat Pasha (Ben Kingsley) .

The fantasy melodrama Zoe, starring Ewan McGregor, Léa Seydoux and Theo James as experimental scientists, and the crime thriller Lying and Stealing (working Russian title is The Art of Deception), where Theo played with Emily Ratajkowski, are also currently in production. .

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