James Purefoy

James Brian Mark Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played Marcus Antonius in the HBO series Rome, Nick Jenkins in A Dance to the Music of Time, college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the Fox thriller series The Following, Solomon Kane in the film of the same name, and Hap Collins in the Sundance series Hap and Leonard. Purefoy also played Lord Phillipe de Clermont in the second season of the hit AMC/Netflix series "A Discovery of Witches". In 2018, he starred as Laurens Bancroft in the first season of Altered Carbon, a Netflix original series. Following an uncredited role as V in the 2006 film V for Vendetta (replaced and dubbed over by Hugo Weaving), he was cast in a main role as Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy / Captain Blighty in the 2020–2021 second and 2022 third season of the television series Pennyworth, the prequel to both Gotham and the upcoming V for Vendetta TV series.

Early life Purefoy was born 3 June 1964 in Taunton, Somerset, the eldest son of Anthony Chetwynd Purefoy and Shirley, née Taylor.

Purefoy boarded at Sherborne School, which he left with only one O-level. He later went to night school and received 11 more O-levels, before taking his A-levels at Brooklands College in Weybridge. He worked as a porter at Yeovil District Hospital before studying acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Purefoy said that as a “young radical actor”, he had different politics to his father, who was a Tory and who worked for the Conservative Party; they had had “long interesting discussions” about politics.

Career

Stage work Purefoy's early professional roles included Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in Leatherhead, Walter in Mary Morgan at the Riverside Studios and Alan Strang in Equus on tour. He subsequently joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1988 and appeared in The Constant Couple, Macbeth,

He appeared as part of the ensemble cast of the 2019 West and Middle Chinnock Christmas Show, as well as singing several sea shanties from Fisherman's Friends.

Film and television

In 1991, Purefoy played James McCarthy, a young man accused of murdering his father, in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," in Granada's The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. Another of his notable roles was as Nicholas Jenkins in the four-part miniseries A Dance to the Music of Time for Channel 4 in 1997. He played Edward, the Black Prince in the film A Knight's Tale, He was originally the actor for V in the 2006 film V for Vendetta but had creative differences with the production team and left the film six weeks into filming. Parts of the film contain (dubbed) scenes of Purefoy.

Purefoy played Mark Antony in the HBO/BBC original television series, Rome.

In 2007, producer William J. Macdonald announced that Purefoy would play Simon Templar in a new TV series of The Saint. The new series was scheduled to start shooting in Berlin and Australia in April 2008. However, production ultimately did not occur and in August Purefoy was reported as negotiating with NBC to star in another series, The Philanthropist. He starred as Teddy Rist in the summer television series, which aired on NBC beginning in June 2009. His character is a billionaire playboy who decides to use his wealth and power to help others in need.

In 2009 Purefoy played the titular character in an adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane. In 2013, The Following debuted, starring Purefoy as the lead antagonist of the series. He portrays Joe Carroll, a former professor who becomes a serial killer and leads a cult of followers, all of whom help create Carroll's "story".

It was announced in June 2014 that Purefoy would join the cast of the film High-Rise with Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irons. Later in 2014, Purefoy co-starred in the Formula 1-themed music video for David Guetta's song "Dangerous".

From 2016 to 2018 Purefoy starred as Hap Collins in Sundance's adaptation of Hap and Leonard, alongside Michael Kenneth Williams. In 2018 he starred as Laurens Bancroft in Altered Carbon, a Netflix original series. In February 2019, Hybrid (who provided the score to Interlude in Prague) released a short film to accompany their single "Hold Your Breath" from the album Light of the Fearless. The film starred Purefoy as the brooding "Mr Black".

In 2020, Purefoy joined the cast of the second season of the V for Vendetta and Gotham prequel television series Pennyworth in a main role, portraying Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy, a former SAS captain and the leader of a crew of criminals consisting of former soldiers, who later becomes the enhanced super-soldier Captain Blighty in the 2022 third season.

He portrayed the father of the Mitford sisters, ‘Farve’, in the 2025 TV series Outrageous. He grew a moustache for the role.

Personal life

Purefoy married actress Holly Aird in 1996, with whom he has a son. They divorced in 2002.

In 2014 he married art historian Jessica Adams with whom he has a daughter and two sons.

Purefoy is a supporter of both Yeovil Town and Manchester United.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1995 Feast of July Jedd Wainwright1996The Tide of LifeNick Stuart 1997 Jilting Joe Joe 1998 Bedrooms and Hallways Brendan 1999 Mansfield Park Tom Bertram Women Talking Dirty Daniel 2000 Lighthouse Richard Spader Maybe Baby Carl Phipps The Wedding Tackle Hal 2001 Tomorrow Andrew Spender A Knight's Tale Edward, the Black Prince of Wales / Sir Thomas Colville 2002 Resident Evil Spence Parks 2003 Photo Finish James Jury Award for Best Actor 2004 George and the Dragon Saint George Blessed Craig Howard Vanity Fair Colonel Rawdon Crawley 2005 V for Vendetta V Uncredited; left six weeks into filming; few opening scenes of a masked V are of James Purefoy but are dubbed by Hugo Weaving 2006 Goose on the Loose Kenneth Donnelly 2008 Lena: The Bride of Ice Dr. Harper 2009 Solomon Kane Solomon Kane 2011 Ironclad Marshall 2012 John Carter Kantos Kan 2013 Wicked Blood Wild Bill 2015 Momentum Mr. Washington High-Rise Pangbourne 2016 Equity Michael Connor 2017 Churchill King George VI Interlude in Prague Baron Saloka 2019 Fisherman's Friends Jim 2022 Fisherman's Friends: One and All Jim 2026 Masters of the Universe King Randor

Television

Radio Year Title Role Notes 2002 Afternoon Play: The Tears of War Bevil Quiller-Couch BBC Radio 4 2014 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Rick Deckard 2016 Le Cid Don Rodrigue BBC Radio 3 2017 The Scarlet Pimpernel Sir Percy Blakeney BBC Radio 4