NORTON
James

• 1. Career

James Geoffrey Ian Norton is an English actor. He is known for roles in the television series Happy Valley, Grantchester, War & Peace and McMafia. He played the title role in the 2019 film Mr. Jones. He earned a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2015 for his performance as Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley.

Career

Norton appeared as a classmate of Jenn in the film An Education, starring Carey Mulligan, in 2009. In 2010 he was an original cast member of Posh at the Royal Court Theatre. At the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 2010, Norton starred in That Face as Henry, an 18-year-old who has dropped out of school to care for his mentally disturbed and drug-dependent mother, played by Frances Barber. Lynne Walker of The Independent wrote of his performance: "At the centre of it all is Henry who, in James Norton's striking portrayal, is like a young caged animal." In 2011, Norton starred as Captain Stanhope in the First World War drama Journey's End. The production toured the UK from March to June and transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End from July to September. Norton then took the role of Geoffrey in The Lion in Winter at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket directed by Trevor Nunn, with whom Norton had worked at Cambridge in Cymbeline.

In the 2012 film Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, Norton played Owen, the would-be groom of a conflicted bride. He appeared in the 2013 film Rush as Formula One driver Guy Edwards. In the 2013 film Belle, he played a suitor of the title character, a mixed-race woman in 18th-century English society. Norton's television appearances include the Doctor Who episode "Cold War", in which he played a crewman on a Soviet submarine during the Cold War, and Death Comes to Pemberley, based on the P. D. James novel involving characters from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice caught up in a murder mystery. Norton was acclaimed for his role as Tommy Lee Royce, the villain of the hit crime drama Happy Valley. Michael Hogan of The Telegraph wrote: "...the breakout star, seen in only a few small parts before this, has been the devilishly handsome James Norton, 29, as the heinous killer Royce, whom he has played with impressive depth." As the first series came to its dramatic conclusion, Norton commented, "8 million people are currently wishing me dead." Norton confirmed he would be appearing in the second series of Happy Valley at the 2015 BAFTAs and continued in the role in the third series.

From 2014 to 2018 Norton played crime-solving vicar Sidney Chambers alongside Robson Green as Police Inspector Geordie Keating in the ITV series Grantchester, based on the stories by James Runcie. Grantchester was his first starring role. A second series was broadcast in early 2016. A third series went into production in autumn 2016, and aired in both the UK and the U.S. in late spring and early summer 2017. A fourth series began filming in June 2018, and it was confirmed that this would be Norton's final series.

He also appeared in the 2014 films Northmen: A Viking Saga and Mr. Turner, a biographical drama on the life of the artist J. M. W. Turner by director Mike Leigh. In 2015 Norton played Duncan Grant in the BBC Two mini-series about the Bloomsbury Group, Life in Squares. In 2016, Norton appeared as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in the BBC miniseries of Andrew Davies' production of War & Peace. The mini-series, a co-production with The Weinstein Company, allowed the cast to film in Russia.

Between March and May 2016 Norton appeared in Tracy Letts’ Bug in London's West End. In 2016, he appeared in "Nosedive", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror. Between December 2017 and February 2018 he appeared in Amy Herzog’s Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre. As part of his preparation for his role in McMafia, Norton studied the Russian martial art and health system Systema. In 2019, Norton portrayed John Brooke in Greta Gerwig's film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women.

He was ranked 31 on the Radio Times's TV 100 power list in 2024.