Adam was born on 9 September 1972 and his godfather was actor Jon Pertwee . Adam trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama - with Dominic West - graduating in 1996, when he started to play small roles in television series, coming to prominence in 2001 in 'Band of Brothers' and with a recurring role in hospital drama 'Holby City' in 2003, since when he has appeared in guest roles in most of the populist detective series on British television. In 2010 he appeared in New York in 'The Pride' for which he received the Lucille Lortel Award for best actor in a featured role and was back on Broadway two years later playing opposite Jennifer Tilly in the farce 'Don't Dress for Dinner'. In 2015, the same year in which he appeared on stage as the Prime Minister in Mike Bartlett's 'future history play' 'King Charles III' he married the former actress Victoria Shalet. Their first child was born in September 2016, and James has an adult daughter from a previous relationship.