James Mason

James Mason is an Australian television and film actor and producer. He started his career participating in a series of short films and commercials. He then secured the role of Chris Pappas on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. Chris was the show's first ever gay male regular character and won Mason wide recognition, including a Logie nomination for Most Popular New Talent in 2012.

He left Neighbours in 2015 to pursue other projects. He began to appear in more short films, web series and later secured roles in the films 36 Questions, William Kelly's War and Slaughterhouse. In 2018 the actor joined the cast of Network Ten drama series Playing for Keeps, playing Jack Davies, a gay Australian Football League (AFL) player whose death forms the main narrative of the show's first season.

Early life Mason studied a Theatre Studies VCE at Monbulk College from 2006 until 2007. His father Adrian Mason and mother Aylee Sunstrom were supportive of his career aspirations. He is bilingual and can speak both English and Swedish. The actor rose to prominence playing the role Chris Pappas on the Australian television soap opera Neighbours. Mason's agent secured him an audition for the role of Andrew Robinson – actor Jordan Smith won the role of Andrew, but three days later Mason was offered the chance to play Chris. Chris is the show's first gay ongoing character. Two-thirds of actors quit the audition process for Chris when they discovered the character was gay. Mason began filming for Neighbours in October 2009 and the character arrived on-screen during February 2010. Chris was initially a guest character, but Mason was later promoted to the show's regular cast. For his portrayal of Chris, Mason was nominated for Most Popular New Male Talent at the Logie Awards of 2012. The actor filmed for an unaired television pilot titled SPIN in 2013.

Mason secured a lead role in the 2018 film 36 Questions. The film focuses on a couple who go on a date under unusual circumstances. The actor's involvement with the film began in 2014, when he was still starring in Neighbours. The movie was supposed to be released that year but only made it to post-production in 2017. In 2015, Mason secured a guest role in Ben Nicholas' web series titled Footballer Wants a Wife. In 2017, he filmed a guest role in a DCF Studio television production titled Bernie Brown.

Mason took on more acting work during 2018. He played lead role of Jacob in the comedy web series titled Freudian Slip, which premiered in March. Then in May it was announced that he had secured the role of Jack Davies in the Network Ten drama series Playing for Keeps, a show is about a group of AFL players and their wives' personal lives. Jack is another gay character Mason has played and the series also centres around the scandal of his death.

In 2019 Mason had a role in the 2019 series Ms Fisher's MODern Murder Mysteries. He also filmed a lead role in the independent film The Slaughterhouse Killer as Nathan. Mason will appear in the upcoming film titled Residence.

Personal life Mason married his partner, actress Christina Arampatzi in October 2025. They have one child, a daughter, born in March 2022.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2009 Eleven Dean Webb Short film 2009 The Quiet Miko Short film 2009 Clean Slate Marcus Short film 2009 Change David Bland Short film 2010 Contender/Skirmish/The Itch Adrian Short film 2014 Killervision Darren Film 2014 Nice Guys Read Plath Tutor Short film 2014 William Kelly's War Constable Sam Johnson Film 2015 Newman Leroy Film 2017 Jack Caine Harry Bradshaw Short film 2018 So That's How it Happened Joe Short film 2018 36 Questions Jacob Film, lead role 2020 The Slaughterhouse Killer Nathan Film, lead role 2022 Darklands David Romans Film 2025 Residence Cormac the Chiro Film 2025 Sacrifice Nicholas Swift Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 2010–2015, 2022 Neighbours Chris Pappas Regular role 2013 SPIN Branley David Unaired TV pilot 2015 Footballer Wants a Wife Nigel West Guest role 2018 Freudian Slip Jacob Web series 2018 Playing for Keeps Jack Davies Regular role 2019 Ms Fisher's MODern Murder Mysteries Eric Wild Guest role 2020 Bernie Brown Medieval Knight Guest role Sources:

Awards and nominations