Theo James, actor, producer, and High-Profile Supporter of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has just returned from Jordan, where he met with refugees in the Azraq Refugee Camp and in urban areas in the capital Amman. Jordan hosts the second-highest share of refugees per capita worldwide. It is also one of the countries most affected by the Syrian crisis, hosting over 650,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR. Despite Jordan’s efforts to ensure refugees are included in health care, education, and – for Syrians – in the labour market, it cannot bear the brunt of this cost alone. Sustained funding for refugees of all nationalities in Jordan is required to avoid a humanitarian crisis.

In his role as High Profile Supporter, Theo met with Syrian refugees to discuss the long-term impact of displacement on people who have now been refugees for over 12 years. Reflecting on his trip, Theo said: “The scars of war are not always visible, but there is also an enormous sustained impact. For many, despair is setting in, as they have lost their jobs and cannot provide for their families; others have taken on extremely high debts and face the threat of being evicted. It is as if they were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. All this while trying to cope with the trauma of war and loss.”

Theo went onto say:

“During World War II, my grandfather worked for the UN in Greece and was forced to flee from Athens to Damascus, Syria. It highlights that anyone can become a refugee at any time and without the solidarity of the Syrian people my family would not have found safety “

UNHCR is struggling to fund its activities in Jordan for 2023. As a result of projected funding challenges for the refugee response in Jordan, UNHCR had already reduced its programme when planning for 2023. Refugee children are at heightened risk of missing out on school, good nutrition, child abuse, violence, neglect, child marriage and child labour. At the same time, refugee women and girls also face a major risk of gender-based violence.

UNHCR is responding to more emergencies than ever. Only in 2022, thirty-five new emergencies were declared, while others –such as Syria- have not gone away. The mounting global threats and diminishing humanitarian budgets widen the gap between available resources and needs. UNHCR calls for more solidarity from the donor community, as countries with the most limited economic means host the most displaced people and need more help. People can find out more about UNHCR’s work with Syrian refugees and donate at: www.unrefugees.org.uk

Theo James has supported UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, since 2016. He has travelled to Greece to learn about UNHCR´s work and the situation of refugees. In 2016, there were 170,000 new refugee arrivals in Greece. He also travelled to Strasbourg to reunite with Housan, one of the refugees he met in Greece, to learn how he was resettling in France. [Source]

In their Actors on Actors conversation, Theo James (‘The White Lotus’) and Brett Goldstein (‘Ted Lasso’) talk improvising and working behind the camera. Theo talks about developing Cameron and Daphne’s relationship and portraying a dynamic that differs from “standardized monogamy.” Brett opens up about the ‘Ted Lasso’ writers room and how a dinner led to Harrison Ford joining the cast of ‘Shrinking.’

On their latest shows, Brett Goldstein and Theo James have created characters who unpeel deeper truths beyond their hunky appearances. Goldstein, who’s won two Emmys for portraying soccer player and coach Roy Kent on “Ted Lasso,” returned for the Apple TV+ comedy’s third season. (He’s also a co-creator and writer on “Shrinking,” about a therapist played by Jason Segel.) James joined the second season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” set in Italy and from creator Mike White, as a chiseled, privileged vacationer.

THEO JAMES: How did you end up writing for “Ted Lasso”?

BRETT GOLDSTEIN: I’d done a pilot for Bill Lawrence. The pilot didn’t get picked up, but we stayed in touch, and he knew I was a writer as well as an actor. When people ask me for advice, I’m always like, there’s no magic phone call. It doesn’t happen. But I did get a magic phone call here, from Bill, out of the blue, saying, “I think you’d be good for this football show.”

How much of “White Lotus” did you have when you started?

JAMES: When I auditioned for it, there was only a pilot. Mike writes really fast. It did change a bit, but the DNA didn’t change much. Mike knows what he wants, but he also lets you improvise and mix around the scene a little bit.

GOLDSTEIN: You’ve got to be very careful with that. We’re very strict on “Ted Lasso.” You have to be clear on what’s the emotion of the scene. You can’t just go and, oh, improvise about toast for five minutes. It might be funny. You won’t use any of it. You’re playing a character that we, as an audience, view through other characters. We’re playing this game of “Is he a bad guy? Is he a good guy?” Were there things you discussed?

JAMES: Yeah, it’s a tricky one. Because in certain scenes he’s so duplicitous or villainous or just a massive dickhead, but that’s boring on its own, so you want him to be as likable within that framework. To me, I liked him as a character and as a person, even though I saw that he’s clearly manipulative, toxic, potentially a sociopath the way he interacts around people.

GOLDSTEIN: Do you think your marriage in “The White Lotus” is a good marriage?
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Theo James has been asked ad nauseam about his prosthetic penis in “The White Lotus,” and Meghann Fahy is starting to feel left out. “Nobody ever asks me about my prosthetic,” she says with a laugh.

When the two reunite over Zoom to discuss their roles, they’re perfectly in sync and often answer questions in unison, evoking their characters’ deliciously duplicitous cat-and- mouse relationship.

In the second season of Mike White’s hit HBO drama, they star as cunning finance businessman Cameron and chipper stay-at-home-mom Daphne, who are vacationing with strait-laced couple Ethan and Harper (Will Sharpe and Aubrey Plaza, respectively). After engaging in the world’s most elaborate “Wife Swap” plot, they depart Sicily as loved-up as ever — and perhaps rubbing off on their friends.

Along with the rest of the cast, Fahy and James earned a SAG Award in February for ensemble in a drama, on a night they both describe as “really special” — well, from what they can recall. “Me and Meghann were four martinis in at that point, so we barely remember,” James laughs. “Negronis,” Fahy corrects. “But yes, four of them.”

Despite all the deception and infidelity, are Cameron and Daphne really right for each other?

Meghann Fahy: I think they’re actually happy. I have to imagine that there’s some part of Daphne that enjoys it. There were very few things that Mike was really specific about with us at the beginning, and one of them was that the truth behind their love and affection and the way that they play with each other were very real for both of them. To me, that was the only thing I really needed to know moving forward about the relationship: the genuine enjoyment that they both have for the other person.

Theo James: Because it’s fairly opaque — each character’s intentions and motivations — you have to anchor yourselves to those bits and pieces. And for me, it was always that when Cameron comes back, he says, “I missed you. Don’t ever leave me. I love you.” It’s playful, but what it means is that he’s driven to the sex, to pushing the boundaries, sure, by a piece of his animalism.

But he’s also driven it there out of insecurity, as often is the case with toxic masculinity: deep insecurity in the foundations of his own personhood. He feels he needs to do this to be powerful. In reality, when he comes back to the person that he loves, and safety and home, all he wants to say is, “That shit is now history, and it kind of makes me feel gross. And don’t leave me again because you made me fall into the hands of the devil.” Which is also very manipulative in its own way.
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Fresh off starring in Season 2 of HBO’s The White Lotus, Theo James has been set to lead horror movie The Monkey, based on the short story by Stephen King.

The team behind the buzzy project includes genre supremo James Wan, creator of the The Conjuring Universe and co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises.

Wan is producing with Atomic Monster partner Michael Clear (M3GAN), and C2 Motion Picture Group’s Jason Cloth (Joker) and Dave Caplan (Babylon). The supernatural story has been adapted for the screen by genre specialist Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), who also will direct.

Black Bear International is launching the project ahead of the Cannes market, where it will be among hot titles.

In The Monkey, when twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them. Additional casting is underway.

Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious) and Fred Berger (La La Land), Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play) and Stars Collective’s Peter Luo and Nancy Xu will executive produce alongside John Friedberg (Greenland) for Black Bear International.

The project was developed with Atomic Monster and Stars Collective, with C2 Motion Picture Group coming on board to fully finance.
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