James Floyd (actor)

James Krishna Floyd[1] is a British actor.[2] He is known for his roles in My Brother the Devil, Everywhere and Nowhere, and the TV series The Good Karma Hospital.

James Krishna Floyd
James Krishna Floyd at the 2018 BAFTA Nominees party
BornAugust 27, 1987
North London, England
EducationUniversity College School, London
Alma materLondon School of Economics (LSE)
National Youth Theatre, London
OccupationActor
Years active2007–present

In 2013, Floyd was named as a Breakthrough Brit by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and won a British Independent Film Award for his role in My Brother the Devil.[3][4]

Early life

Floyd was born in Kings Cross London and grew up in North West London with his parents.[5] His mother is Tamil, and his father is English with Scottish ancestry; which resulted in his "ethnically ambiguous" appearance.[6][7][8][2][9] Floyd's father was a civil servant, working as a probation officer in such areas as Tottenham and Holloway, and his mother taught English to refugees and Category A prisoners at HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs.[7][5] James grew up attending plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company, which he later credits as inspiration for his acting career.[10]

Floyd attended the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) studying Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method but left to pursue a career in theatre.[7][2] He trained at the RADA Youth Summer Program at the Old Vic [11][12] and later became an alumnus of the National Youth Theatre.[13]

Career

Theatre

Floyd began his career attending open auditions through the National Youth Theatre in London making his stage debut as one of the chorus in Antigone at Hell’s Mouth performed at the Soho Theatre.[3][11] In 2005, he landed a lead in Totally Practically Naked in My Room on a Wednesday Night performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre.[14] Despite this, he struggled for many years to make ends meet, working as an usher at the Strand Theatre and teaching maths to young students while auditioning.[15][5][16]

In 2007, Floyd starred as a young alcoholic indigenous Canadian in J.B. Priestley’s play The Glass Cage at the Royal & Derngate theatre, directed by Laurie Sansom.[17] And in 2008, he played Ali, a Pakistani student from Detroit in Anna Ziegler’s Dov and Ali at Theatre503.[18][19]

Film

Floyd’s first starring film role was the 2011 coming-of-age drama Everywhere and Nowhere, in which he played a British Pakistani teenager who has a passion for music and DJing.[15][5] The film played to stellar reviews at the Mumbai Film Festival and Dinard Film Festival, and was released in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East.[20]

In 2012, Floyd starred in the 2013 drama My Brother the Devil, a tale of two British-Egyptian brothers growing up on a tough council estate in Hackney, East London.[21] It was Sally El Hosaini’s debut film as a writer/director, and Floyd starred as "Rash", a young drug-dealing boxer with a secret.[22] To prepare for the role, Floyd spent five months living with Hackney gang members and training as a boxer in order to “to get my head around how these guys really think and feel.”[23] After his performance, Time Out reported that Floyd “be on every director’s must-cast list.”[24] Later that year, he signed with United Talent Agency in Los Angeles.[25]

In 2015, Floyd played the lead role of Alex Harks, an American orphan caught up in a private spy ring in the thriller Rogue Agent, executive produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and co-starring Anthony LaPaglia.[26][2] In 2017, Floyd co-starred as a rags-to-riches British Indian businessman in British noir City of Tiny Lights along- side Riz Ahmed, Billie Piper and Cush Jumbo. The film was directed by Pete Travis and produced by Rebecca O’Brien.[27][28]

Television

In 2007 Floyd played the role of footballer Miguel Lopez in the British TV series Dream Team.[29][5] In 2009 he appeared in the TV Film Compulsion (based on Jacobean tragedy The Changeling), alongside Ray Winstone and Parminder Nagra.[30] In 2012 he appeared as a Spanish bullfighter in Seville set crime series Falcón for Sky Atlantic. He portrayed Freddie Mercury in the 2013 BAFTA-winning BBC biopic The Best Possible Taste.[31][32] In 2016, he starred as Ishbaal, prince of the Israelites, in the ABC drama Of Kings and Prophets.[33][34] Since February 2017, Floyd has starred as the Indian doctor Gabriel Varma in the ITV series The Good Karma Hospital.

As of late 2019 Floyd is filming a lead role in new Middle-East set drama Fertile Crescent for Hulu.[35]

Personal Life

Floyd lives in London. He has a son, who was born in 2016.[36] In October of 2017, James added his middle name Krishna to his official stage name. [9] Floyd supports a number of charities, including Kiva, It Gets Better Project, and the Disasters Emergency Committee.[36]

Awards
  • Screen International Star of Tomorrow (2012)[25]
  • Most Promising Newcomer, British Independent Film Award (2012)[8]
  • Best Male Actor, Milano Film Festival (2012)[23]
  • BAFTA Breakthrough Brit (2013)[4]

Filmography

Theatre
  • The Glass Cage at the Royal & Derngate[17]
  • Dov & Ali at Theatre503[19]
  • Totally Practically Naked... at the Tristan Bates Theatre[14]
  • Antigone at Hell's Mouth at the Soho Theatre[3]

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2009TormentedNasser
2010The InfidelGary Page
2011Everywhere and NowhereAsh Khan
SpiritJagsShort film
2012My Brother the DevilRashid
2014HollowPriestShort film
2015Rogue AgentAlex Harks
2016City of Tiny LightsLovely
RearviewSimon

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
2006Holby CityAnil ChohanEpisode: "Metamorphosis"
2006–2007Dream TeamMiguel Lopez
2008CompulsionJaimanTV Movie
2012Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett StoryFreddie MercuryTV Movie
FalcónRafa FalconEpisodes: "The Blind Man of Seville"
"The Silent and the Damned"
2016Of Kings and ProphetsIshbaal
2017–19The Good Karma HospitalDr. Gabriel VarmaSeries 1, 2 & 3
gollark: Are those LED filament lights, then, or some sort of magical multicolored incandescents?
gollark: Cool idea, since you could also run networking over that and control lighting over something less unreliable than wireless whatever, though I imagine needing a network switch would increase the costs.
gollark: Though it's always hard to get new standards to actually be adopted anywhere.
gollark: It might make sense to have home lighting use lower-voltage DC instead of mains AC now, and have a big converter somewhere, to avoid every bulb having to contain expensive and in some cases unreliable and flickery conversion electronics.
gollark: https://hackaday.com/2020/02/16/have-led-bulbs-reached-their-final-and-cheapest-form/

References
  1. "James Floyd". Retrieved 8 October 2017 – via Facebook.
  2. Sajip, Arjun (28 October 2015). "Gritty boy Floyd – Glass meets up-and-coming young British actor James Floyd". The Glass Magazine. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  3. "James Floyd · BIFA · British Independent Film Awards". BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  4. "BAFTA Breakthrough Brits 2013". www.bafta.org. 8 October 2015.
  5. "James Floyd". IMDb. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  6. Clarke, Cath (14 April 2011). "First sight: James Floyd". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. "Evening Standard Film Awards for 2012: Most Promising Newcomer". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  8. BIFA. "Winners – Awards 2012 – BIFA – The British Independent Film Awards". www.bifa.film. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  9. Reporter, India-West Staff. "Indian-origin Actor James Krishna Floyd Returns on Season 2 of British Series, 'The Good Karma Hospital'". India West. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  10. "James Floyd – (Everywhere And Nowhere – 2011)". Matt J. Horn. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  11. "James Krishna Floyd | Creative Artists Management". www.cam.co.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  12. "Everywhere and Nowhere (UK 2011)". The Case for Global Film. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  13. Porter, Mr. (7 January 2013). "One To Watch: Mr. James Floyd". Mr. Porter. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  14. "Totally Practically Naked in My Room on a Wednesday Night review at Tristan Bates Theatre London | Review | Theatre | The Stage". The Stage. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  15. "Gangland Style". www.out.com. 19 February 2013.
  16. Vidani, Peter. "The Lush Life". The Lush Life. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  17. BBC. "The Glass Cage". Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  18. Gardner, Lyn (19 June 2008). "Theatre review: Dov and Ali / Theatre503, London". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  19. "Dov and Ali review at Theatre503 London | Review". The Stage. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  20. "Everywhere and Nowhere". Time Out London. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  21. "Gangland Drama My Brother the Devil Offers New Take on Overshot Slums". Observer. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  22. Catsoulis, Jeannette (21 March 2013). "The Dark and Light of East London". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  23. "James Floyd". Flaunt Magazine. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  24. "My Brother the Devil". Time Out London. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  25. "UK Stars of Tomorrow". Screen Daily.
  26. "Content introduces Newcomer to EFM". Screen. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  27. Lowe, Kinsey; Lowe, Kinsey (22 April 2015). "'City Of Tiny Lights' Filming To Start, NBCU Sets Italian 'Parenthood' – Global Briefs". Deadline. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  28. "BBC - City of Tiny Lights set visit - BBC Films". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  29. "Dream Team Diehard::: Character Profiles: Miguel Lopez (James Floyd)". dtdiehard.net. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  30. Harding, Sarah (4 May 2009), Compulsion, Ray Winstone, Ben Aldridge, Emma Campbell-Webster, retrieved 14 October 2017
  31. "BBC - Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  32. Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story - IMDb, retrieved 18 November 2019
  33. Petski, Denise; Petski, Denise (16 March 2015). "Rupert Graves To Co-Star In ABC's Jenna Bans Pilot, James Floyd Joins 'Of Kings And Prophets'". Deadline. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  34. Celebeat.com (17 March 2015). "'Of Kings and Prophets': James Floyd Joins Maisie Richardson and Ray Winstone in Cast of ABC's Pilot Drama About Israel's First King". Celebeat. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  35. White, Peter; White, Peter (13 June 2019). "Hulu Hands James Purefoy-Fronted Middle East Drama 'Fertile Crescent' Straight-To-Series Order". Deadline. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  36. General, Author (9 January 2017). "James Floyd – What's on your mantelpiece?". The Steeple Times. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
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