Theo James was born Theodore Peter James Kinnaird Taptiklis on December 16, 1984 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. Prior to landing the leading role of Jed Harper on supernatural drama series "Bedlam", he made his TV debut on "A Passionate Woman". This was followed with a guest starring role in an episode of "Downton Abbey" as Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk. In 2012, he appeared on "Case Sensitive" and "Room at the Top". By 2013, he earned his another small screen leading role that of Walter William Clark, Jr on the crime drama series "Golden Boy".

James' film credits included "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" (2010) and "The Inbetweeners Movie" (2011) before his big break as David in the 2012 feature "Underworld: Awakening". Afterwards being tapped to portray Tobias "Four" Eaton in science fiction action film "Divergent", he tasted immediate worldwide stardom, thanks to its worldwide success. Having two films released in 2014, namely "London Fields" and "Franny", the actor was subsequently billed to reprise his role in "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" (2015).

Acting aside, James used to serve as the singer and guitarist of the London-based band Shere Khan, which announced in November 2012 they were no longer actively playing as a band. As of his love life, the actor has been dating actress Ruth Kearney since 2009.