James McArdle

James John McArdle (born 3 April 1989) is a Scottish actor. He won the Ian Charleson Award for his role as Mikhail Platonov in Platonov and was nominated for an Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Louis Ironson in Angels in America.

Early life McArdle was born in Glasgow, growing up in the city's Darnley neighbourhood and attending St Ninian's High School, Giffnock. As a child he attended PACE Theatre Company in nearby Paisley. Having worked as a child actor in films, at 17 he made the decision to travel by bus to London to train as a professional without informing his parents;

In 2017 McArdle's performance as Louis Ironson in Angels in America at the National Theatre Lyttleton in London earned him a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In March 2018 he stayed with the production when it transferred to Broadway for an 18-week engagement at the Neil Simon Theatre and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play.

In 2024 McArdle played the lead role in the comedy Four Mothers, an Irish-set adaptation of the Gianni Di Gregorio 2008 Italian film Mid-August Lunch, playing a gay young adult fiction writer taking care of his widowed mother. The film won the BFI London Film Festival Audience Award in 2024.

In 2026, he played King James VI in the BBC docu-drama adaptation of Gareth Russell's book Queen James.

Acting credits

Theatre

Television

Film Year Title Role Notes 2012 Private Peaceful Lieutenant Buckland 2014 '71 Sergeant Mark McGowen 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Niv Lek2016 On The Road Joe The Chamber Parks 2018 Mary Queen of Scots James Stewart, Earl of Moray 2020 Ammonite Roderick Murchison 2024 Four MothersEdward TBA Filming

Awards and nominations