In looking for his first acting gig in America, British actor Lennie James, who portrays Robert Hawkins in the television series, Jericho, gave himself a three-month deadline. After only three weeks, he had not one, but two job offers.
In an interview with the Associated Press, James recounted his relatively easy audition process. “I didn't test for the network. I didn't actually go back and do another meeting. It was all on that first meeting, and I was done and signed up.”
The 40 year-old actor from Nottingham England arrived in Los Angeles early last year, and his performance on the show has captured the attention of many American viewers. Jericho’s executive producer, Carol Barbee, praised James’ acting prowess, saying “Lennie is a great dramatic actor…But he's also very funny and very friendly, and he has all of those facets to him that make him a great con man and we needed a great con man.”
In addition, Barbee said that he thought James’ character, Robert Hawkins, “would be this incredible, interesting little thread that would probably pick up momentum. But very quickly the audience just wanted to see Lennie and he's almost become a co-lead with Skeet [Ulrich]."
An open and personable individual, James is greatly different from Hawkins. However, he enjoys the ambiguous nature of his character, saying "It's like doing a Rubik's Cube where you have to put all your squares in the right position before they will all fit…and sometimes you have to move them out of order to be able to work them back in. That's how you do the cube. That's kind of how Hawkins' mind works."
Originally, James wanted to become a successful rugby player. He only stumbled into acting after he followed a girl “with fine assets” to an audition for a summer play. From there, he went on to attend the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, and after he graduated, he balanced his time between working at the social security office and performing with a theater company.
Aside from appearing on Jericho, James has also tried his hand in playwriting. He has also performed in various plays in London. As for the big screen, James' film credits include 24 Hour Party People, Snatch, and Sahara.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Photo Courtesy of about.com)