CV: James Purefoy

Now presenting The Wine Show (7pm, Ch5) with fellow actor Matthew Goode, James Purefoy, 53, has been acting up a storm for the past three decades…

Early days: James was born in 1964 in Taunton, Somerset. After leaving boarding school (where he was ‘very unmotivated’), he worked on a pig farm and as a hospital porter in Yeovil (‘a bit of an eye-opener’) before taking a shine to acting, and enrolling at the Central School of Speech & Drama in London.

Stage to screen: After joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1988, he appeared in a wide range of theatrical productions. He was screen-tested for the role of James Bond in 1995’s Golden Eye, but lost out to Pierce Brosnan; ten years later, he was rumoured to be in the running to replace Brosnan, but lost out to Daniel Craig (‘There’s a big list of actors who are constantly linked to the part. I guess I’m just one of them’). Instead, he won starring roles in Mansfield Park, Women Talking Dirty (both 1999), Maybe Baby (2000), A Knight’s Tale (2001), Vanity Fair (2004), Solomon Kane (2009) and Momentum (2015). TV CV: Since making his TV debut in 1990 series Coasting, James has appeared in numerous dramas, including The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, The Prince And The Pauper, A Dance To The Music Of Time, The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Rome, The Philanthropist, Camelot, Injustice, Episodes, The Following and Roots. What next? James has a starring role as Laurens Bancroft in sci-fi drama series Altered Carbon, on Netflix from today.