James Callis was born on June 4, 1971 in London. Two sisters grew up with him, and James' parents were the owners of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. The family lived in a small hotel, which was just opposite the museum. In his early youth, James was fond of music, played the piano well and composed the songs himself. After graduating from school, in 1990, he went to study at the University of Cambridge, where he became interested in theatrical life. It was there that he played one of his first successful
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James Callis was born on June 4, 1971 in London. Two sisters grew up with him, and James' parents were the owners of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. The family lived in a small hotel, which was just opposite the museum. In his early youth, James was fond of music, played the piano well and composed the songs himself. After graduating from school, in 1990, he went to study at the University of Cambridge, where he became interested in theatrical life. It was there that he played one of his first successful roles in Harold Pinter’s Birthday. After graduating from university, James entered the London Academy of Musical and Dramatic Art, a student of which he was until 1996.
In 1996, for his role in the play Evil Old Songs, Callis received the Jack Tinker Theatre Award as the most promising debutant. This play was written for two actors, and James partnered in a production by the famous actor Bob Hoskins. This was followed by work in the play “The Doctor’s Dilemma” of the Almeida Theatre, radio productions and several TV projects.
The first steps of the actor on the television screen were such films as the comedy “The Most Terrible Murder”, the serial drama “Soldier, Soldier”, the mini-series based on Anthony Powell’s epic novels “Dance to the music of time”.
In 1999, John Callis debuted as a film director and screenwriter first in a short film, and then in the low-budget feature comedy “Lucky Beginners”. In 2001, on the big screens of the country comes a comedy melodrama with the participation of Callis “Bridget Jones’ Diary” based on the novel by Helen Fielding. The painting was a huge success. In 2002, the actor returned to the theatrical stage of the Soho Theater in the lead role in the comedy You Didn't Say That Last Night.
In 2003, in the mini-series Helena of Troy, Callis played the husband of the legendary Helena, Tsar Menelaus, after which he received an invitation to play one of the main antagonists in the fantastic television series Star Cruiser Galaxy. In 2009, after the final fourth season of the film
"Star cruiser Galaxy" Callis got the lead role in another project “SyFy” – the TV movie “Merlin and the book of monsters”. Later, he also starred in another series of the same TV channel - in the fourth season of Eureka. For this role, James Callis was twice nominated for the Saturn Award in the category “Best Supporting Actor on Television”.
On December 30, 1988, James married an Indian woman, Nahey. They have three children, two sons and a daughter.