James Nelson-Joyce, star of BBC drama This City Is Ours, left hosts Louise Minchin and OJ Borg stunned on Morning Live when he revealed the real reason he got into acting: he fancied his English teacher.
Appearing on the BBC show on Friday, October 23, ahead of the second series launch, the 37-year-old Liverpudlian shared how a school crush set him on his career path. When OJ asked how he got into acting, James paused, smiled, and replied: "Ok, so I fancied my English teacher." A stunned OJ responded: "Right, ok! Well there must be more to that."
From Football Dreams to the Stage
James explained that he used to put on accents in class to get her attention. "I wanted to be a footballer but I wasn't any good," he said. "She started saying 'do accents'."
When the school said they didn't want him back, the teacher asked what he planned to do. "I said 'I don't know I'll go on the building site with my dad'," James recalled. "And she just said 'go to this community college I think you should be an actor' and it just kind of spiralled from there."
A Sensory Approach to Character
During the interview, James also revealed one of his methods for getting into character: choosing a new aftershave for each role. "I choose a specific aftershave for each character I play," he said. "Acting's a sensory thing so anything that can help... it's about feeling what's going on in the day."
He laughed as hosts showed a clip of his character Michael in the new series, saying: "I'm nothing like that, it's weird. People come up to me and go 'my mum's too scared to come over to you' or whatever. What are you scared of me for?!"
Series Two Returns
This City Is Ours pulled in huge audiences when it launched on the BBC last year, with 8.3 million viewers watching the opening episode and receiving Bafta TV nominations. The drama centres on Liverpudlian crime boss Ronnie Phelan (Bean), whose desire to retire after one last major drug deal triggers a power struggle between his long-time right-hand man Michael Kavanagh (played by James) and Phelan's impetuous son Jamie (Jack McMullen).
The first series ended after eight episodes with a high-stakes standoff and kidnappings. The second series opens as Michael and Diana are dragged back into the fold from Spain to answer questions around Ricardo's death, with Endeavour star Shaun Evans joining the cast. This City Is Ours returns on BBC One on Sunday, October 25 at 9pm and is available on BBC iPlayer.
