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James Purefoy

James Purefoy

Birthday: 1964-06-03 | Place of Birth: Taunton, England, UK

James Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played Marc Antony in the HBO series Rome, college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series The Following, and Solomon Kane in the film of the same name. In February 2018 he starred as Laurens Bancroft in Altered Carbon, a Netflix original series. He played James McCarthy, a young man accused of murdering his father, in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," in Granada's The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. One of his notable roles was as Nicholas Jenkins in the eight-part miniseries A Dance to the Music of Time for Channel 4 in 1997. He played Edward, the Black Prince in the film A Knight's Tale, Rawdon Crawley in Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon and Tom Bertram in the 1999 production of Mansfield Park. He has played major roles in several television costume dramas, including Sharpe's Sword, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Prince and the Pauper, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Blackbeard: Terror at Sea, Beau Brummell: This Charming Man, The Tide of Life, Camelot and Rome. He played Mark Antony in the HBO/BBC original television series, Rome. He starred as Teddy Rist in the summer television series, The Philanthropist, which aired on NBC beginning on June 2009. His character is a billionaire playboy who decides to use his wealth and power to help others in need. In 2013, The Following debuted, starring Purefoy as the lead antagonist of the series. He portrays Joe Carroll, a former professor who becomes a serial killer and leads a cult of followers, all whom help create Carroll's "story". It was announced in June 2014 that Purefoy would join the cast of the film High-Rise with Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irons. Later in 2014, Purefoy co-starred in the Formula 1-themed music video for David Guetta's song "Dangerous". In February 2019, Hybrid (who provided the score to Interlude in Prague) released a short film to accompany their single "Hold Your Breath" from the album Light of the Fearless. The film starred Purefoy as the brooding 'Mr Black'.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2025
Saint-Pierre

as    Sean Gallagher

2023
Malpractice

as    Dr Leo Harris

2023
Malpractice

as    Dr. Leo Harris

2023
2020
No Man's Land

as    Stanley

2020
El Candidato

as    Wayne Addison

2019
Fisherman's Friends

as    Jim

2019
Limbo

as    Lucifer

2019
2018
It's Me, Sugar

as    Billy Wilder

2017
Interlude In Prague

as    Baron Saloka

2017
Churchill

as    King George VI

2016
Hap and Leonard

as    Hap Collins

2016
Roots

as    John Waller

2016
Equity

as    Michael Connor

2016
High-Rise

as    Pangbourne

2015
Momentum

as    Mr. Washington

2014
Wicked Blood

as    'Wild' Bill Owens

2013
The Following

as    Joe Carroll

2012
John Carter

as    Kantos Kan

2011
Ironclad

as    Thomas Marshall

2011
Injustice

as    William Travers

2009
Diamonds

as    Lucas Denmont

2009
Solomon Kane

as    Solomon Kane

2008
The Summit

as    Thom Lightstone