Stephan James

Stephan James (born December 16, 1993) is a Canadian actor. After starring in a string of television series as a teenager, he rose to prominence upon winning a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor for his role as track and field sprinter Jesse Owens in the 2016 film Race.

In 2018, he starred in Barry Jenkins' acclaimed drama film If Beale Street Could Talk, based on the James Baldwin novel of the same name. Also that year, he portrayed Walter Cruz in the Amazon series Homecoming, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination.

Early life and education Stephan James was born in 1993 in Scarborough, Ontario, which became a district of Toronto in 1998. The middle child of three boys, he is the younger brother of actor Shamier Anderson, whom James credits with inspiring him to get into acting. His family is Jamaican.

He graduated from Jarvis Collegiate Institute in 2011.

Career

Early work James got his start in television with a recurring role for two seasons on the long-running Canadian teen series Degrassi. After leaving Degrassi, James played various supporting roles on television, including in How To Be Indie, Clue, and My Babysitter's a Vampire in 2011, and The Listener and The LA Complex in 2012. Also in 2011, he played a supporting role in the ABC Family made-for-TV movie 12 Dates of Christmas.

Breakthrough James landed his first major feature film role playing opposite Tatyana Ali and Fefe Dobson in the Canadian film Home Again (2012), in which he played a Jamaican deportee. Although the film received mixed reviews, The Globe and Mail gave James' performance a positive review, calling it "heartbreaking." though he ultimately lost to Serge Kanyinda.

In 2013, James was cast as civil rights activist John Lewis in Ava Duvernay's Martin Luther King Jr. film Selma (2014), which went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. When asked about the purported "snubs" the film received from the Academy, James said: To me, I've always seen this film as a victory really, even before I saw the finished version. No award can amount to the way I feel about what we've done with this film. We've done something so relevant to our youth. In 2015, James guest-starred in the CBC television mini-series The Book of Negroes, based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Lawrence Hill. At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, James was named one of the industry's foremost "Rising Stars". In celebration of Black History Month, James was named by CBC as one of their '6 Black Canadian Culture-Makers,' citing Oprah Winfrey as one of his biggest influences.

In 2016, James starred in the lead role of African-American track and field sprinter Jesse Owens in the biopic Race (2016) opposite Jason Sudeikis, replacing Star Wars star John Boyega. For his role in Race, James won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor.

In 2017, James played DOJ prosecutor Preston Terry in the FOX limited series, Shots Fired. In 2018, he starred in Barry Jenkins' film adaptation of the James Baldwin novel If Beale Street Could Talk, which was nominated for several Academy Awards. Also that year, he portrayed Walter Cruz, opposite Julia Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, and Shea Whigham, in the Amazon series Homecoming. James received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in Homecoming. More recently, he and Shamier Anderson had signed a deal with Boat Rocker. In February 2022, it was reported that James is attached to star and co-produce a limited series about the life of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Nonprofit work James and his brother, fellow actor Shamier Anderson, founded a non-profit called B.L.A.C.K. Canada (Building a Legacy in Acting, Cinema + Knowledge) in 2016. In December 2020, they announced an extension of the organization called The Black Academy, which showcases Black talent across Canada in the arts, culture, entertainment and sports. James explained, "We're not short of talent but we are short of opportunities. And so we can only hope that The Black Academy will continue to elevate and inspire the Anglophone and Francophone communities to come together and have one place in which they can build on what they've already started and be celebrated and honored for it, rightfully so." The organization's vision includes building a coalition of supporters who can provide funding, mentorship, programming, and awards to support Black excellence in Canada.

Filmography Film YearTitleRole Notes 2012 Home Again Everton St. Clair Nominated—Canadian Screen Award for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role 2014 Perfect Sisters Donny The Dependables Shane Jones When the Game Stands Tall Terrance G. "T.K." Kelly Selma John Lewis Nominated—Black Reel Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male 2015 Lost After Dark Wesley Across the Line Mattie Slaughter 2016 Race Jesse Owens Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture 2018 If Beale Street Could Talk Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt 2019 21 Bridges Michael Trujillo 2021 National Champions LeMarcus James 2022 Delia's Gone Louis 2024 Babes Claude The Piano Lesson Boy Charles2025 Ricky Ricky Night Always Comes Cody 2026 War Machine Staff Sergeant 7 I Play Rocky Carl Weathers

Television YearTitleRole Notes 2010 My Babysitter's a Vampire Jock Television film 2010–2011 How to Be Indie Wilfred 3 episodes 2010–2012 Degrassi: The Next Generation Julian Williams 8 episodes 2011 My Babysitter's a Vampire Jock #1 Episode: "Smells Like Trouble" Clue Dmitri 5 episodes 12 Dates of Christmas Michael Television film 2012 The Listener Ibrahim Ayim Episode: "The Taking" The L.A. Complex Infinite Jest 5 episodes 2013 Cracked Ben Omari Episode: "Faces" 2014 The Gabby Douglas Story John 16-18 Years Television film Apple Mortgage Cake William Logan Television film 2015 Unveiled Daniel Shepard Television film The Book of Negroes Cummings Shakspear Episode #1.5 2017 Shots Fired Preston Terry 10 episodes 2018–2020 Homecoming Walter Cruz 16 episodesNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama 2020 #FreeRayshawn Rayshawn Morris 12 episodesNominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series 2022 Surface Baden Main role 2023 Beacon 23 Halan Kai Nelson Main role

Awards and nominations