When Theo James signed up for Guy Ritchie’s Netflix spinoff of his 2019 movie, “The Gentlemen,” he knew the Netflix series would be action-packed: His character, Eddie Horniman, a captain in the British army, comes home to discover that he’s inherited his aristocratic family’s historic 15,000-acre estate, the title of the 13th Duke of Halstead and — surprise! — a hidden cannabis farm run by gangsters. He also knew he wanted to switch things up from playing Cameron Sullivan, the charismatic rogue of a hedge-fund bro from HBO’s “The White Lotus” and the role that he’s best known for here. “Cameron was larger than life, Americana, outward energy,” James says.
“Eddie is the opposite of that: incredibly controlled, chooses his words incredibly wisely and very British. He thinks before he talks, and he’s always assessing the landscape.” Eddie also gave James — who was born in Oxford, England, and studied philosophy at the University of Nottingham but has played a lot of U.
S. citizens — the chance to set another record straight. “When I meet people, and they realize I’m not American, they’re not only disappointed by my accent, but they’re also disappointed that I’m not filled with energy and telling people to go f— themselves,” he says.
“I’m actually quite shy and genteel.” Television In “The Gentlemen,” based on Guy Ritchie’s film of the same name, Theo James plays a British aristocrat who discovers his father’s estate.