Early life and education

James was born on 16 December 1984, in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. He is the son of Jane (née Martin), who worked for the National Health Service, and Philip Taptiklis, a business consultant. His paternal grandfather was Greek (he moved from the Peloponnese to New Zealand). His other ancestry is English and Scottish. The youngest of five children, Theo has two brothers and two sisters. He attended Aylesbury Grammar School and went on to earn his undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Nottingham. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Career

Acting

James made his television debut in A Passionate Woman, starring opposite Billie Piper. He played Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk in an episode of the first season of Downton Abbey. James starred in Bedlam, playing the lead role of Jed Harper. He appeared in the 2012 adaptation of John Braine's Room at the Top as Jack Wales.

His film credits include You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and The Domino Effect. James was cast in Stranger while still in his final year at drama school. He played James, an obnoxious night club rep, in The Inbetweeners Movie. In 2011, James was chosen to play the character of David in the fourth installment of Underworld: Awakening, released in 2012, opposite Kate Beckinsale. In 2012 he appeared in ITV's Case Sensitive starring Olivia Williams and Darren Boyd. He was named a "Star of Tomorrow" in 2009 by Screen International.

James played the male lead, Tobias "Four" Eaton, in the film adaptation of Veronica Roth's best-selling book, Divergent (2014). James reprised the character in the sequel to Divergent, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, which began filming in May 2014 and was released in March 2015.

James will star alongside Amber Heard, Billy Bob Thornton and Jim Sturgess in the film adaptation of London Fields, and in the indie drama Franny, alongside Richard Gere and Dakota Fanning. He returned in two more Divergent films, The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016), and the upcoming The Divergent Series: Ascendant (set for 2017). He is also scheduled to reprise his character David in the fifth Underworld film, this time as the film's lead.

Music

Outside his acting career, James was the singer and guitarist of the London-based band Shere Khan (named for the fictional character of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book). On 21 November 2012, the band announced on their Facebook page that they were no longer actively playing as a band and that members would be pursuing other musical endeavours.

Personal life

James has been dating actress Ruth Kearney since 2009.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Ray
2011	The Inbetweeners Movie	James
2012	Underworld: Awakening	David
2012	The Domino Effect	Dinner Party guest
2014	Divergent	Tobias "Four" Eaton
2015	The Divergent Series: Insurgent
2015	The Benefactor	Luke
2016	The Divergent Series: Allegiant	Tobias "Four" Eaton
2016	London Fields	Guy Clinch	Post-production
2016	War on Everyone	Lord James Mangan	Filming
2016	Underworld: Blood Wars	David	Filming
2017	Backstabbing for Beginners	Michael	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	A Passionate Woman	Alex "Craze" Crazenovski
2010	Downton Abbey	Kemal Pamuk	1 episode
2011	Bedlam	Jed Harper	6 episodes
2012	Case Sensitive	Aidan Harper	2 episodes
2012	Room at the Top	Jack Wales	2 episodes
2013	Golden Boy	Walter William Clark, Jr.	Lead role

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2014	Divergent	Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action	Won
		Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Breakout Star	Nominated
		Young Hollywood Award for Fan Favourite Actor - Male	Nominated
		Young Hollywood Award for Best On-Screen Couple	Nominated
2015		People's Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Duo	Won
	The Divergent Series: Insurgent	Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action	Nominated
		Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Liplock	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]