TV

The Gentleman Fans Are Only Now Realizing Theo James' Real Name

The Gentleman Fans Are Only Now Realizing Theo James' Real Name
Image credit: Summit Entertainment, Netflix, HBO

The Gentleman star realizes it would take longer to remember his real name.

Summary

  • English actor Theo James has been gaining more international recognition in recent years, and as a result, more fans.
  • As such, new fans were surprised to learn that 'Theo James' is his professional name.
  • His real name is much longer, but also tells a lot about his family.

English actor Theo James has been gaining a lot of fame over the past few years, appearing in more and more high-profile projects. Although the actor first became famous after The Divergent Series, it is only over the last several years that the Internet has gone crazy for the actor. As he matured, Theo began to offer the global audience more deep and ambiguous and therefore more compelling characters.

And now, the actor's name is at the forefront of Guy Ritchie 's new project, the recently released Netflix series The Gentlemen, which is both a sequel and a spiritual successor to the 2019 film of the same name. Because of that, Theo James is now on the radar of virtually every corner of social media, as more people become familiar with his acting talents and, as a result, become dedicated fans.

And that's why it came as such a surprise to many newfound admirers of Theo James' work that this is his professional stage name and not a real one. Well, 'James' is actually one of his last names.

Theo James' Real Name

As we said, the actor gained international recognition by starring in Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant as Tobias Eaton, also known as 'Four'. Even then, he was already known professionally as Theo James.

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It was through television that he first found his way into acting, and so the career path came full circle, and James once again conquered the small screen format, delighting audiences first with the role of self-centered hedonist and shady businessman Cameron Sullivan in the second season of The White Lotus, and then, as mentioned, as Eddie Horniman in the new The Gentlemen. And so, with all this success, many of the actor's fans came to the shock that Theo James is not his real name.

He was born in High Wycombe, England in 1984 under the full name Theodore Peter James Kinnaird Taptiklis to a Greek-Scottish family. As we can see, 'Theo James' is not just a pseudonym, but a shortened version of his own name, although there were clearly a number of options for an original and memorable stage alias. However, he chose the name more familiar to the Anglophone world — given that he has two brothers and two sisters, he clearly had to make a big bet on recognizability.

A Little Bit About His Upcoming Projects

Soon the professional name of the English actor will be even more in demand by the international audience, as Theo James does not intend to rest on his laurels and already has two potential hit projects in the pipeline. The Audible series David Copperfield, starring Ncuti Gatwa, is currently in post-production. Producer is none other than Sir Sam Mendes.

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In addition, on March 22, principal photography wrapped on the horror film The Monkey, directed by Oz Perkins and starring Theo James. The story is based on Stephen King 's 1980 short story of the same name.

In the meantime, we highly recommend checking out Theo James' latest project, which is steeped in the aromas of single malt Scotch whisky and... weed-smelling money. We're talking about Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen, which premiered on March 7, 2024. Executive produced and co-written (with Matthew Read) by Ritchie, The Gentlemen centers on Eddie Halstead (James), an heir to an astonishing fortune. But he gets caught up in the machinations of Matthew McConaughey's Mickey Pearson and his pot empire. The show also stars Kaya Scodelario, Giancarlo Esposito and Vinnie Jones. All 8 episodes are available on Netflix.