Biography

James Nesbitt

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James Nesbitt was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, to May, a civil servant, and James Nesbitt, a primary school headmaster. He was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution (also the school of Brian Campbell & Brian McAlister). He originally planned to be a French teacher. It was not until teacher Robert Simpson encouraged him to take an apprenticeship at the local Riverside Theatre that his interest in acting began, eventually leading him to a drama school in London, and to what has become a highly successful acting career.

James is a lover of football.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

His two daughters, Mary and Peggy, both star alongside him (Bofur) in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), playing the two daughters (Tilda and Sigrid) of Luke Evans (Bard).
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama and to the community in Northern Ireland.
After starring in Jekyll (2007), written by Doctor Who (2005) writer Steven Moffat, some press reports speculated that he would be the next star of Doctor Who (2005). In a 2008 interview with a British television magazine, Nesbitt dismissed the reports, stating that he didn't think he could follow Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant and he felt that at the age of 43, he would be considered too old for the part anyway.
In March 2010, the University of Ulster appointed James Nesbitt as its first ever Northern Ireland-born Chancellor. He succeeded former London Lord Mayor Sir Richard Nichols in the role.
Met his wife in 1989 whilst performing a world tour of Hamlet (she was understudying Ophelia, he was playing Guildenstern), shortly after leaving their respective drama schools.

The thing to remember is that the work comes first, and not to get distracted by anything else. If you keep focused on the work, everything else will fall into place. That's my mantra now.
I've heard some duff Irish accents. The worst must be Mickey Rourke.
I spend my money on holidays and eating out, and it allows me to be generous.
I never forget that I'm extremely fortunate.
I was one of the many kids in Northern Ireland who grew up in the countryside and had an idyllic childhood well away from the Troubles.

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