- Won his very first award in 1990 for his five minute short, Homage to Hitch (1990). It was shot in and around his old college, the Liberties College in Dublin, opposite St. Patrick's Cathedral and was shot in Black & White and used no dialogue, only music, specifically, Bach: Air 'on the G string'.
- In the Spotlight (1997) was the very first film he made after coming to America. It was based on a short film he started shooting when living back in Dublin, Ireland in 1994 he but never got to complete it.
- He was the only person to be involved with both filmed versions of the highly successful Irish stage-play 'The Consequence of Polly'. The first film, Shadow Silence (1995) was made in Dublin, Ireland back in 1994 where he played the villain in the film, Detective O'Brien. When he finally moved to the States, he got the rights to the stage-play and re-made the film as Nemesis (2000). Unhappy with the adaptation of the play into Shadow Silence, he re-made it into Nemesis and the film won 3 independent film awards and was shown at several film festivals around the world.
- His movie A Vicious Lie (1992) was based on a short story he wrote years earlier. In the original script, the two main characters were women where one is plotting to try and seduce the other woman's boyfriend but one of the actresses couldn't make it for filming so he quickly rewrote it so that the two main characters became guys instead. His next movie, Unseen Rival (1993) told the original story the way he had originally written it, with two female leads.
- Met longtime friend Paul Brady in film school back in 1988. They both agreed that they would make a feature film before either one turned 25 and in late 1994, they completed Shadow Silence (1995), their first feature.
- Cites Harrison Ford as his favorite actor of all time. James' father walked out on him and his mother and sister when he was seven years old and he became fascinated with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) when he was nine years old, especially with the Indiana Jones character. Indy became a father figure to him early on in his life and he admits to having watched Raiders over 700 times and stopped counting about that time.
- Dedicated Nemesis (2000) in memory of Liam Rigney and Charlie Skeen. James had worked with Liam in Shadow Silence (1995). He became good friends with Charlie and was in negotiations to work with him on Nemesis. Liam died of a brain aneurysm in 1997 and Charlie, an actor and stunt-man, died from a heart attack when a stunt he was doing for Walker, Texas Ranger (1993) went wrong.
- Originally, he was writing a comedy but having been introduced to a family of sisters, one of whom had been diagnosed with a terminal disease, he made his movie Sisters (1992) instead. He based this film on the sisters' true-life story. He cites the movie Awakenings (1990) as inspiration for his script.
- James cites Alien (1979) as one of his all-time favorite movies, especially in terms of cinematography.
- James' sister, Cathy, appeared in many of his earlier films, along with many of his friends. She also appeared in The Photograph (2003) and his highly-acclaimed feature, Divine Souls (2007).
- Attended the Liberties College in his home town of Dublin, Ireland.
- Was good friends with the late actor Jerry Biggs.
- Auditioned for the role of an I.R.A. terrorist for an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger (1993). When was told that he needed to sound "more Irish", he reminded the casting director where he was originally from but was told he needed to sound more like the Leprechaun from the "Lucky Charms" commercials because that's what most Americans thought a real Irish accent was. He refused and the part went to another actor.
- Based his film The Photograph (2003) on a short story that his mother wrote when he was a child.
- Doesn't drink alcohol of any kind, doesn't drink tea or coffee and doesn't smoke.
- Learned to drive once he got to America. He said public transportation in Ireland was so good you could live your life there and never need a car. His first car was a 1986 Ford Escort. It lasted six months.
- Left Dublin, Ireland on Friday, October 28th, 1994 to start a new life in the United States.
- Named one of the main characters in his film Nemesis (2000) 'Inspector Duvall (Character)', after Robert Duvall, one of his favorite actors.
- Owns his own production company, L.C.A. Films.
- Played on a volleyball team in Dublin in 1994 which was ranked #2 in Europe.
- Shot many of his earlier films in Howth in Co. Dublin, Ireland because of its cliffs and panoramic views of Dublin Bay.
- Took acting classes from Neville Carlyle-Style in Dublin.
- Worked in Ireland's largest TV and Radio station R.T.E. for five years.
- Works out regularly. Usually does one week of weights and cardio and then one week of swimming and back to weights and cardio again.
- His favorite movie of all time is Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Followed by, in no particular order, The Matrix (1999), Gladiator (2000), The Secret of My Success (1987), the James Bond series, the Friday the 13th (1980) series, Babe (1995), The Thing (1982), The Fog (1980), Frantic (1988) and The Wild Geese (1978).
- Has spent years building up a base of actors with whom he works regularly. Very seldom auditions actors because he has worked with most of them before and knows what they are capable of.
- His trademark, like Alfred Hitchcock, is that he appears in all his movies. In Unseen Rival (1993), when Steven comes home to a dark, quiet house, he proceeds to turn off the television and right before he does, we can see that the movie playing is none other than A Vicious Lie (1992), his previous film in which he was the star.
- Was a judge at the 2003 Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas, Texas.
- Was a judge at the 2008 U.S.A. Film Festival in Dallas.
- Has worked with actor and good friend Marc Jeffreys four times. First on Nemesis (2000), then The Photograph (2003), followed by Divine Souls (2007) and their upcoming movie The Reckoning (2014).
- While his good friend Marc Jeffreys was shooting The Bottom Line (2003), James stopped by the set one day during lunch and ended up being asked by the film's writer and producer, Pam Boyd, if he would be in an upcoming scene. He obliged and can be seen briefly in one of the many 'bar' scenes, having a drink.
- His favorite James Bond movies are On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Spectre (2015) Casino Royale (2006), GoldenEye (1995), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Licence to Kill (1989) and Octopussy (1983).
- Loves the Harry Potter movies. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) is his favorite Potter movie.
- His favorite Friday the 13th movie is Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981).
- Is a Registered Film Critic at the Critics Choice Association and the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content