The This City is Ours star is among the best actors in the UK at the moment
James Nelson-Joyce(Image: James Nelson-Joyce Instagram)
James Nelson-Joyce has teased an upcoming project. The Liverpool-born actor, who is 36, was inspired by Stephen Graham’s rise to stardom in the 2000s and believed he could make his own acting dreams a reality, and did just that.
He previously told the ECHO: “I didn’t know a single person who was an actor where I’m from. No one in my school wanted to be an actor and I just didn’t know the world. Then you watch Stephen in films like This Is England and Gangs of New York and it makes you think, Scousers can do this.” James made the move to London aged 21 to study at drama school and in recent years has impressed in a number of memorable roles.
On Instagram yesterday, October 13, James shared a black and white snap of himself and captioned it “New role shot in Liverpool. Any guesses what it might be. All will be revealed tomorrow…”
A number of fans have predicted what the new role could be. One fan commented “like some Hugo boss ad” and another said “James bond”, a guess many fans had.
Plenty of fans fans guessed it would be related to M&S, while the majority of guesses believed it related to the new series of This City is Ours, which started filming last week.
The This City is Ours star is among the best actors in the UK at the moment. He has stayed close to his local roots and is often pictured in his home town of Liverpool, enjoying bars and restaurants.
On how he first got into acting, he told YMLiverpool.com: “It was a bit of luck really. I was just a normal kid, playing football and that.
“I fancied my English teacher and the only way I could get her attention was by putting on an accent when she’d ask someone to read aloud in class.
Hannah Onslow and James Nelson-Joyce filming for series two of This City is Ours (Image: Left Bank Pictures/James Stack)
“I didn’t know at the time that I was dyslexic and I felt uncomfortable reading, but I did it just to show off.” James attended Archbishop Beck High School in Liverpool.
It was the same English teacher who recognised his potential for acting, encouraging him to study at The City of Liverpool College.
The actor gained wide recognition for his role as conflicted gang boss, Michael Kavanagh, in the Liverpool based programme – This City is Ours. The crime-drama has an impressive cast as Sean Bean, James and Hannah Onslow all took leading roles.
The show follows the power struggle between crime boss Ronnie Phelan, who’s looking to retire, his partner Michael Kavanagh and his ambitious son Jamie. This City is Ours is set in Merseyside and has been filmed across the region. Film crews were spotted across Merseyside in the summer of 2024.
Viewers watched the successful first series as Michael (James Nelson) and Diana’s (Hanna Onslow) love affair happened during the disintegration of Michael’s crime gang. For years, together with Ronnie (Sean Bean), Michael had successfully been bringing cocaine into the city and beyond, directly from Columbia.
A huge part of the show explored what happened when Ronnie’s son Jamie (Jack McMullen) decided he wanted to inherit their kingdom and that there is no longer a place for Michael at the table. Both Michael and Jamie had bold ideas to modernise the gang and battled for the control of it.
The BBC has announced This City Is Ours will return for a second season. The series has been a huge success as it is the BBC’s most watched new drama launch of the year so far.
Penned by Stephen Butchard and produced by Left Bank Pictures, James Nelson-Joyce returns as Michael Kavanagh, alongside fellow returning cast members Hannah Onslow as Diana Williams, Michael’s partner, Jack McMullen as Jamie Phelan, Mike Noble as Banksey, Julie Graham as Elaine Phelan, widow of murdered gang leader Ronnie (Sean Bean), and Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Cheryl Crawford.
Joining the cast is Endeavour Shaun Evans as former gangster Ozzie Thompson, recently out of prison, and Álvaro Morte, who has starred in Money Heist, as Felipe Guzman, member of the Colombian cartel and younger brother of Ricardo, who was murdered at the end of the first series.
