James Lafferty was born and raised in Hemet, California. James attended Hemet High School and played basketball for the Bulldogs, even earning the MVP award. He has been steadily working since the age of 6 when his mother encouraged him and his brother, Stuart Lafferty, to act as a hobby. At age ten, he received his first speaking part and, then later, a role on the short lived television series Emeril (2000) as Emeril Lagasse's son. James also made guest appearances as Once and Again (1999) (as Tad) and Boston Public (2000). He also had a role in the ESPN movie A Season on the Brink (2002), a basketball movie about the Indiana Hoosiers, where he was able to demonstrate his basketball skills. He graduated in 2003 from Hemet High and was enrolled at Cal State Long Beach before he received the role of "Nathan" on the WB Network's new series One Tree Hill (2003), filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. Once in University, James plans on majoring in international studies.