- Career Highs and Personal Lows: Despite major roles in The Gentlemen and The White Lotus, Theo James has faced a challenging year with physical injuries, including a slipped disc and a torn pectoral muscle.
- New Culinary Venture: The actor has ventured into the business world, opening Lupa, a Roman-inspired restaurant in London, born from his and his wife’s love for Italian food and culture.
- Family Over Fame: James reveals that fatherhood has grounded him, profoundly shifting his perspective on success, ambition, and the “hyper-obsessiveness” of his early career.
- Embracing Vulnerability: He candidly discusses his fears of aging after turning 40 and emphasizes the crucial life lesson of embracing failure, a value he hopes to instill in his children.
A Candid Conversation with a Star
Theo James may be known for playing cocksure, swaggering characters in global hits like The White Lotus and The Gentlemen, but the 40-year-old actor is revealing a surprisingly vulnerable side off-screen. In a recent candid interview, James opened up about a year plagued by injuries, the existential dread of turning 40, and how family life has completely reshaped his definition of success.
From Gangster Capers to Gourmet Carbonara
While fans have recently seen him wielding machine guns on the set of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, James has been busy with a different kind of passion project: opening his own restaurant. Lupa, a north London spot he co-founded, serves hearty Roman food inspired by his personal life. “My wife and I got married in Italy. We love the food. And we wanted a place where you could bring your kids,” he shared. This new chapter as a restaurateur is a long-held fantasy for James, even if he jokes that friends warned him it’s “a good way to lose money.”
The Grounding Force of Family
The Emmy-nominated actor credits his wife, actress Ruth Kearney, and their two young children for keeping him centered amidst the chaos of Hollywood. “It sounds corny,” he admits, “but having kids levelled me out because I realised that there’s something bigger and more important than my own hyper-obsessiveness.” This shift in perspective has helped him move past the relentless ambition and insecurity that marked his early career, a time when he felt “desperate to prove” himself while constantly climbing an endless industry ladder.
Facing Fears and Embracing Failure
Now, post-children and post-White Lotus fame, his focus is on doing work he respects while being able to “pay your mortgage.” James also doesn’t shy away from the anxieties that come with getting older in a looks-obsessed industry. He cheerfully admits to being “terrified” by aging, confessing that turning 40 was “more existentially seismic than I thought.”
However, with age comes wisdom. He now believes that failure is an essential part of growth, a lesson he wants to pass on to his children. “It’s OK to fail,” he insists. “You don’t always need to win. Failure and success should be hand in hand because they shape you as a person.”
With season two of The Gentlemen on the horizon and another film in the works, Theo James is busier than ever. Yet, it’s clear his greatest success lies not on a red carpet, but at home and in his new restaurant, surrounded by family.
Image Referance: https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/celebrity/article/the-gentlemen-theo-james-interview-kw0j27dd0