James Callis
James Callis | |
|---|---|
 Callis with Tricia Helfer, 2007 | |
| Born | James Callis |
| Spouse | Neha Callis |
James Callis (born 4 June 1971) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones' gay best friend in Bridget Jones's Diary.
Biography
Early life
Callis was born and raised in London, where he attended Harrow School in north west London. His parents owned a bed-and-breakfast.[1] Callis is Jewish,[2] the descendant of immigrants from Russia and Poland.[3] In 1990, he studied for a BA degree in English and Related Literature at the University of York, where he was a member of Derwent College. At university he was a keen student actor, director and writer, sometimes also appearing in productions put on by friends at Cambridge University, including a production of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party. He graduated from York in 1993.
Career
Callis went on to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from which he graduated in 1996, and in the same year he was awarded the Jack Tinker Award (Theatre Record Critic of the Year) for Most Promising Newcomer for his performance in Old Wicked Songs, a two-hander by Jon Marans, in which he starred alongside Bob Hoskins.
Callis has appeared in various West End productions and television series as well as on radio. He has also been involved in writing and directing. His directional debut was Beginner's Luck, a co-production of his and writer/director Nick Cohen's Late Night Pictures and Angel Eye Film & TV, starring Julie Delpy, Steven Berkoff and Fenella Fielding. Beginner's Luck was critically panned, but ran for almost three weeks on one print (all the low-budget film could afford) in one cinema in central London, then went on a tour of student cinemas around the U.K. The U.K. distributor was Guerrilla Films. The film is still on the Icon Catalogue.
Callis finished filming his first role in a cinema film, Bridget Jones's Diary, alongside Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant, in the summer of 2000 and between a few further film and TV roles went back on stage in the Soho Theatre in December 2002.
In 2003, Callis played the role of Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries, and continued the role in the regular series that followed. In 2006, Callis won Best Supporting Actor Saturn Award, a Peabody Award and an AFI award (all Battlestar-related).
Notable appearances
Film and Television:
- One Night with the King (2006) - Haman
- Dead Cool (2004) - Josh
- Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) - Tom
- Battlestar Galactica (2003 - present) (TV) - Doctor Gaius Baltar
- Helen of Troy (2003) (TV) - King Menelaus (Helen's husband)
- Blue Dove (2003) - Dominic
- Relic Hunter (2002) - Raoul
- Beginners Luck (2002) - Mark (James also wrote, co-directed & co-produced this film)
- Victoria & Albert (2001) (TV) - Ernest (Albert's brother)
- As If (2001) (TV) - Sebastian
- Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) - Tom
- Arabian Nights (2000) (TV) - Prince Ahmed
- Jason & The Argonauts (1999) - Aspyrtes
- Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll (1999) (TV) - The Wolf
- Surety (1999) - Short film directed & produced with Nick Cohen
- Heat of the Sun (1999) (TV) - Clive Lanyard
- Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Going Wrong (1998) (TV) - Guy Curran
- The Scarlet Pimpernel (1998) (TV) .... Henri
- Weekend Bird (1997) - Mike
- A Dance to the Music of Time (1997) (TV) - Prof. Russell Gwinnett
- Soldier Soldier (1996) (TV) - Major Tim Forrester
- Murder Most Horrid (1996) (TV) - Mark (in episode: "Confess")
Radio:
- HMS Ulysses (1997) Saturday Playhouse (Radio 4) - aired on 14 June 1997
- Daisy Miller (199?) - Winterbourne