Stephan James Biography

Canadian-grown talent Stephan James was born in Toronto. He began his acting career with a two-season stint on Degrassi: The Next Generation. After leaving Degrassi, Stephan earned recurring roles on various Canadian television shows, including How To Be Indie, My Babysitter's a Vampire and The Listener.

Stephan then made his first feature film debut in the Canadian drama Home Again (2012), for which he received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The following year, Stephan got his big Hollywood break when he was cast in Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated civil rights drama Selma (2014). Next was a guest starring role in the CBC mini-series The Book of Negroes (2015). That same year, Stephan was named as one of the Toronto International Film Festival's (TIFF) Rising Stars.

For his role as Olympic track and field star Jesse Owens in the biopic Race (2016) alongside Jason Sudeikis, Stephan won a Canadian Screen Award for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Film.

In 2017, Stephan starred on Fox's crime/drama TV series Shots Fired, filmed in North Carolina. From there, he played a starring role on the Amazon Prime series Homecoming (2018-2019) alongside Julia Roberts and on the big screen he played a criminal opposite Chadwick Boseman in the crime thriller 21 Bridges (2019).

Stephan starred in National Champions (2021) as a college quarterback taking a stand against the NCAA, and Delia’s Gone (2022), a Canadian crime drama in which he played a man with an intellectual disability seeking justice for his sister's death.

Stephan James continues to build a powerful body of work in both film and television, cementing his status as one of Canada’s most accomplished and versatile actors.

Filmography:

Ricky (2025)
Babes (2024)
The Piano Lesson (2024)
Beacon 23 (2023)
Surface (2022)
Delia’s Gone (2022)
National Champions (2021)
Homecoming (2018–2020)
21 Bridges (2019)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Shots Fired (2017)
Race (2016)
The Book of Negroes (2015)
Unveiled (2015)
Across the Line (2015)
Lost After Dark (2015)
The Gabby Douglas Story (2014)
When the Game Stands Tall (2014)
Perfect Sisters (2014)
The Dependables (2014)
Selma (2014)
Clue: A Movie Mystery Adventure (2014)
Home Again (2012)
Degrassi: The Next Generation (2010–2012)
How to Be Indie (2010–2011)
My Babysitter’s a Vampire (2010–2011)
Clue (2011)
12 Dates of Christmas (2011)