James Purefoy

James Purefoy is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Marcus Antonius in the HBO-BBC co-production Rome, serial killer Joe Carroll in The Following, and Hap Collins in Hap and Leonard. He started his career in theatre, and continues his career in a wide range of genres, from period dramas to science fiction.

Training and stage

James Brian Mark Purefoy was born on 3 June 1964 in Taunton, County Somerset. He attended boarding school at Sherborne School; When he finished school with poor grades, he went to evening school to complete his deficiencies. He received his acting training at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1988 and appeared in the company's productions of Macbeth, The Tempest and King Lear; He played Edgar in King Lear.

Cinema and television

In the cinema, he played Edward the Black Prince in the movie A Knight's Tale (2001) and Rawdon Crawley in the adaptation of Vanity Fair (2004). He received the best actor jury award at an independent film festival for his role in the movie Photo Finish. He was initially cast as V in 2006's V for Vendetta, but left the project during the sixth week of shooting and the role went to Hugo Weaving.

In 2009, he played the title role in Solomon Kane, based on Robert E. Howard's hero, and in 2017, he played King Henry VI in the film Churchill. He played George.

His best-known work on television is Marcus Antonius in Rome, which aired between 2005 and 2007. He played a charismatic serial killer opposite Kevin Bacon in Fox's The Following in 2013-2015, and the lead role in Sundance's Hap and Leonard in 2016-2018. In 2018, he played Laurens Bancroft in Netflix's Altered Carbon series, and in 2019-2020 he played Remi Milburn in Sex Education.

Captain Gulliver Troy in Pennyworth, Dr. in Malpractice (2023). Leo Harris took over his roles. He played Stefan Skellen from the Nilfgaard secret service in the fourth season of The Witcher, which was released in 2025.

Purefoy is one of the well-known faces of British television, continuing his acting experience from the Shakespeare stage in long-running series.