Jolyon James

Jolyon James is an Australian-born

Early life James was born in Western Australia in a remote country town. He studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), graduating in 1997. He performed the role of Jean Prouvaire, and understudied and performed the role of Enjolras in the 1999 Australian tour of Les Misérables and appeared on numerous Australian TV shows before moving to the UK in 2002 to broaden his horizons. James directed the play This is Our Youth in Melbourne in 2002 and Perth in January 2003. After moving to London, James played a supporting role in the UK TV series Mad About Alice, and in 2005 appeared briefly in the Hollywood film The Wedding Date, playing Debra Messing's character's ex-boyfriend "Woody".

Back in Australia, James appeared on TV screens again in shows such as Headland, City Homicide, Rush and Offspring, as well as playing Schuurman in the 2008 TV movie Krakatoa. He is a Director and member of the creative team behind Doorstep Ensemble, a theatre company which seeks to give up and coming community theatre performers a foot in the door to the professional industry, and he has both appeared in and directed a number of their productions.

In 2012 James appeared in the title role of Moonshadow, a musical by Cat Stevens which premiered in Melbourne at the Princess Theatre, and performed the role of Indian John in Eddie Perfect's Shane Warne the Musical the following year.

James has been in two Stephen Sondheim musicals. He first appeared in the 1998 Melbourne cast of Into the Woods as Rapunzel's Prince, and then in the 2014 Melbourne cast of Passion as Major Rizzolli.

Photography James is also a photographic artist and is involved in a long-term collaboration with Raphael Ruz entitled BILLIEJEANISNOTMYLOVER. They are based in Melbourne. James also creates animation and video content for theatre productions and music video clips including the single "Magnet" by Kate Ceberano. He is a writer, director and producer and is currently the Artistic Associate for the Arena Theatre Company.