James Byng is currently playing the Actor in the West End production of The Woman in Black, He was also most recently seen playing Toulouse-Lautrec in the Secret Cinema's production of Moulin Rouge! His other theatre credit include: Edgar Rychenkov in Noël (National Opera House, Ireland); Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales (Bargehouse, South Bank); Nick Willow in Carrie’s War (Novel Productions UK Tour); Posner in The History Boys (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Theatre Royal Bath UK Tour); Frodo in The Lord of the Rings (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Les Misérables (Palace Theatre); Oliver! (London Palladium); Hey! Mr Producer(Lyceum); Oliver! (Theatre Royal Plymouth).
We chat to James after his opening night in his new role...
Is the love of music and theatre something which runs in the family?
Not particularly, though my sister and I starred together as kids in Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre in the 90s, and my brother is a talented musician, and I suppose my grandfather was a bit of a crooner - oh alright, scrap that, I suppose it does, yes.
Where did you train and how has this helped you build your career in the arts?
I didn’t. It hasn’t. I was lucky, I fell into acting at an early age and carried on!
I’m not quite sure what ‘building a career in the arts’ means these days really. It’s all too easy to feel as though one’s building something and then… bam! You’re flat on your backside again. It can happen to any actor, however prominent. It’s an extremely fickle industry and I’m very glad and grateful to be working!
