James Nicholas Callis (born 4 June 1971) is an English actor. He is known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones's best friend Tom in Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and Bridget Jones's Baby. He joined the cast of the TV series Eureka, on Syfy, in 2010, and since 2017, he has voiced the character Alucard in the Netflix series Castlevania and Castlevania: Nocturne, based on the video game series of the same name. In 2022, he appeared in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard as Jean-Luc's father in childhood flashbacks.
James Callis | |
|---|---|
 Callis at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | James Nicholas Callis 4 June 1971 Hampstead, London, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Harrow School |
| Alma mater | University of York (B.A., English and Related Literature, 1993) London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse |
Neha Callis (m. 1998) |
| Children | 3 |
Early life
editCallis was born in Hampstead and brought up in London, where he attended St. Martin's Prep School in Northwood and then Harrow School in north-west London. His parents owned a bed-and-breakfast.[1] He is of Russian, Polish and Ukrainian Jewish descent.[2][3] Callis attended the University of York, graduating in 1993 with a BA in English and Related Literature. He was a member of Derwent College, for which he was an enthusiastic rugby player. At university he was also a keen student actor, director and writer. He was a key member of the University of York Gilbert and Sullivan society and appeared in productions put on by friends at Cambridge University, including a production of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter.
Career
edit
Callis went on to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1996. 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 directorial 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 UK.
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 the Best Supporting Actor Saturn Award and an AFI award for his performance as Baltar.
Personal life
editCallis has two sisters. He married on 30 December 1998 and has two sons and a daughter, born 2003, 2005, and 2009.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Weekend Bird | Mike | Short film |
| 1999 | Surety | Ben | Short film; Also director and producer |
| 2001 | Bridget Jones's Diary | Tom | |
| Beginner's Luck | Mark Feinman | Also co-director, co-producer and writer | |
| 2004 | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Tom | |
| Dead Cool | Josh | ||
| 2006 | One Night with the King | Haman, the Agagite | |
| 2010 | Reuniting the Rubins | Danny Rubins | |
| Meet Pursuit Delange | Pursuit | Short film | |
| 2013 | Austenland | Colonel Andrews | |
| Believe | Man in Mac | ||
| 2016 | The Hollow | Vaughn Killinger | |
| Bridget Jones's Baby | Tom | ||
| 2017 | House by the Lake | Scott | |
| 2025 | Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy | Tom | Post-production |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Murder Most Horrid | Mark | Episode: "Confess" |
| Soldier Soldier | Maj Tim Forrester | 9 episodes | |
| 1997 | A Dance to the Music of Time | Gwinnett | Episode: "Post War" |
| 1998 | Heat of the Sun | Asst. Supt. Clive Lanyard | Episode: "Private Lives" |
| The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Guy Curran | Episodes: "Going Wrong: Part 1", "Going Wrong: Part 2" and "Going Wrong: Part 3" | |
| 1999 | Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll | The Wolf | Miniseries |
| The Scarlet Pimpernel | Henri | Episode: "Valentin Gautier" | |
| 2000 | Arabian Nights | Prince Ahmed | Miniseries |
| Jason and the Argonauts | Aspyrtes | Miniseries | |
| 2001 | As If | Sebastian | Episode: "Nicki's POV" |
| Victoria & Albert | Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha | Television film | |
| 2002 | Relic Hunter | Raoul | Episode: "Faux Fox" |
| 2003 | Helen of Troy | Menelaus | Miniseries |
| Battlestar Galactica | Dr. Gaius Baltar | Miniseries | |
| Blue Dove | Dominic Pasco | Miniseries | |
| 2004–2010 | Battlestar Galactica | Dr. Gaius Baltar | 73 episodes |
| 2007 | Battlestar Galactica: Razor | Dr. Gaius Baltar | Television film |
| 2008 | Late Show with David Letterman | Gaius Baltar / Top Ten Presenter | Uncredited |
| 2009 | Merlin and the Book of Beasts | Merlin | Television film |
| Numb3rs | Mason Duryea | Episode: "Angels and Devils" | |
| 2010 | FlashForward | Gabriel McDow | Episodes: "The Garden of Forking Paths", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Course Correction" and "The Negotiation" |
| 2010–2012 | Eureka | Dr. Trevor Grant | 10 episodes |
| 2011 | Merlin | Julius Borden | Episode: "Aithusa" |
| 17th Precinct | Jeff Bosson | TV pilot | |
| 2012 | Midsomer Murders | Toby & Julian DeQuetteville | Episode: "The Dark Rider" |
| DCI Banks | Owen Pierce | Episodes: "Innocent Graves – Part 1" and "Innocent Graves – Part 2" | |
| 2013 | Arrow | The Dodger | Episode: "Dodger" |
| Key & Peele | Shakespeare | Episode #3.8 | |
| 2013–2014 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | John Merchiston | Episodes: "Skin in the Game", "The Devil and D.B. Russell" and "Boston Brakes" |
| 2014–2016 | The Musketeers | Emile Bonnaire | Episodes: "Commodities" and "The Queen's Diamonds" |
| 2015 | A.D. The Bible Continues | Herod Antipas | Miniseries |
| Gallipoli | Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett | Miniseries | |
| Rick and Morty | Pat Gueterman (voice) | Episode: "The Wedding Squanchers" | |
| 2017–2021 | Castlevania | Alucard (voice) | 27 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | 12 Monkeys | Athan / The Witness | 5 episodes |
| 2017 | Once Upon a Date | Ed Holland | Television film |
| 2019–2022 | Blood & Treasure | Simon Hardwick / Karim Farouk | Main cast |
| 2020 | MacGyver | The Merchant | Episodes: "Soccer + Desi + Merchant + Titan" and "Psy-Op + Cell + Merchant + Birds" |
| 2022 | Star Trek: Picard | Maurice Picard | Episodes: "Monsters" and "Hide And Seek" |
| 2023 | Castlevania: Nocturne | Alucard (voice) | Episode: "Devourer of Light" |
| 2024 | Slow Horses | Claude Whelan | 4 episodes |
Radio
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Daisy Miller | Winterbourne | |
| 1997 | HMS Ulysses | Kid Carpenter | Radio 4 Saturday Playhouse[4] |
Web
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Caper | Doc English | Through Geek and Sundry |
References
edit- ^ "James Callis Biography (1971–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
- ^ "Message 27: 30-Sep-2002". Jamescallis.tripod.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
- ^ "It is a matter of opinion for time being. But doesn't look like it's going to plan... and consequence we've never seen? I'm a descendent of Ukrainian Jews – I've seen it. Nuclear war – he won't see that either! I think the aggressor is afraid! I'd be – in his position". Twitter.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
- ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 14 June 1997. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
External links
edit
- James Callis at IMDb
- James Callis at TV Guide