James trained as an actor at the East 15 School of Acting and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD), achieving an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice in 2000. James was in receipt of the Elise Fogerty Studentship at RCSSD and awarded a PhD in 2011. James has spoken at national and international conferences addressing the development of actor training. James’ most recent research has been on the subject of (Re)gaining Trust in Conservatoires; James has contributed to a chapter in the book, Stanislavski and Race, due to published by Routledge in 2023. James is currently the Short Courses Programme Leader at RCSSD.