James Cotter was born on 27th February 1990, in Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom. Alumnus of The University of Plymouth where he graduated with a 2:1 FDA in TV Production, his first foray into professional acting came on the stage where he made his debut as Mr. Barton in Bill Kenwright's number one UK tour of Agatha Christie's Witness For The Prosecution at The Princess Theatre Torquay. That same year work on short films across the country became more frequent and alongside his theatre career James became noticed by an agent and taken on to his books, where work on TV shows for Channel 4 and ITV such as Skins (2012) and Wakey Wakey (2012) started to get him seen nationally.
His first supporting feature film role came in the blockbuster World War Z (2013) starring Brad Pitt and he went on to land his first speaking role in a feature film as Alex in the award winning The Days Inbetween (2012) which came next alongside supporting roles in British feature films The Sweeney (2012) and The Wedding Video (2012). With regular work on screen James embarked on a number of theatrical tours playing leading roles in Jack and the Beanstalk, Round and Round the Garden, Allo! Allo! The Adventures of Mr. Toad and Shakespearean plays: Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. He also showed a musical side appearing in productions of Evita, Cabaret, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Sound of Music, Acorn Antiques: The Musical! And The Day We Played Brazil.
Back on screen James was starring in a number of short and feature films such as the award winning All in the Valley (2014), A Dark Tale (2013), The Runner (2015) and You Get What You Asked for Son (2014). Showing his versatility for comic and serious roles and showcasing his wide range of accents something which he did to great effect on A Comic Review of the Year for BBC Radio where he played Rik Mayall's character Rick from The Young Ones, Spock from Star Trek and politicians Ed Millband and William Hague as well as numerous other voices. He also appeared in television roles in Kennedy's Suicide Bomber (2013) a Smithsonian Channel and BBC co-production and Mermaids: The New Evidence (2013) for the Discovery Channel as well as parts in TV commercials for Lumens and Haven Holidays.
James appeared on stage as Detective Sergeant Porterhouse in Ray Cooney's farce Run For Your Wife and has performed at comedy clubs with stand ups Dave Thompson, Steve Hall, Mitch Benn, Alan Francis and Arthur Smith and has taken on directorial duties for two video shorts showcasing his stand up character The Comedy Inspector, which he also writes and for his first short film Delays Imminent (2015) which he also produced and appears in. The film has gone on to be shown on TV channel Latest TV (four times) and appear at film festivals such as The English Rivera Film Festival and Exeter Respect Festival. One reviewer commenting "A great first film from the seemingly ubiquitous Devon talent of James Cotter."
James returned to stage acting with a role as Judas Iscariot in The Hopeful Grave for Prior Commitment Theatre Company with one reviewer commenting "James Cotter as Judas ensures passion returns to the performance and fills the stage...". Followed by a role for The National Trust playing Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet and MP in a stage production of The Gift at his former home, Killerton House in late 2015. Another recent stage show was about the early life of Reg Varney of On the Buses fame in a show based on his autobiography. The show called Before the Buses was commissioned by Reg's daughter Jeanne with James playing a pre-war Reg.
In 2016 James landed a leading role as David in the sc-fi comedy podcast The Time Diary and plays the part of Police Commissioner Lawrence in the final episode of the eight part web series Call Me Church (2016). Short film roles as a Immigration Officer in a drama about an asylum seeker who takes refuge in the UK called Exile (2016), a burglar in the comedy horror The Graveyard Shift (2016) and a role in the award winning Carl Shanahan's horror film Crave (2017) as well as a Exeter Phoenix 48 Hour Film called Love & Translation (2016) added to another busy year for James which ended in another two more stage roles for The National Trust, firstly playing renowned landscape artist William Sawrey Gilpin in a ParkLife Drama in the grounds of Killerton House and playing a traditional Victorian Father Christmas for the Christmas at Killerton event.
2017 saw James returning to pantomime for the first time in six years as the Squire in Treasure Island for Prior Commitment Theatre Company at Budleigh Public Hall. After two years away from performing improv comedy James joined the comedy group, The Eggshells and once again played The Laugh Out Loud Comedy Festival in February 2017.
James' long-standing working relationship with Prior Commitment Theatre Company continued in 2018 with performances in Silly Billy at Budleigh Public Hall in April 2018 and the world premiere of From Exe to Axe to celebrate the life of Sir Walter Raleigh which toured Devon in August 2018. James also lent his voice to the film Henry's Wives (2019) as the narrator of the lives of Henry VIII ill-fated wives as well as another Exeter Phoenix 48 Hour Film called The Siren (2018).
2019 saw James playing the Umpire in a short film commissioned by the Exeter Phoenix and directed by Tommy Gillard called Shuttlecock (2019) which has gone on to win a number of awards like the BFI London Film Festival award for Best Short Film in 2020 as well as screening on BBC Two and being made available on the BBC iPlayer for a year. 2019 also saw for the fourth year in a row James returning to his seasonal role as Father Christmas for The National Trust.
2021 James worked with director Dom Lee again in a short film called Cutting Ties (2021) as well more seasonal roles for both Stagecoach Performing Arts stage school and Bow Garden & Aquatic Centre.
2022 saw James working with Hot Rock Productions for an event for Crealy Adventure Park, returning to the stage as Glyn in Alan Ayckbourn's Time of My Life (2022) and Doctor Forest in The Railway Children (2022) both at The Blackmore Theatre in Exmouth. James also teaches adults acting and improv for Creative Cultutre South West (CCSW) at The Phoneix Centre in Exeter.
When he’s not acting, James is an associate lecturer at Exeter College and heads up the education team at Exeter Cathedral. He spends the rest of his time with his son George.
James also greatly enjoys reading, crime novels being a firm favourite, watching Arsenal and occasionally playing football himself, and single malt whiskey.