James Hawes
Birthplace: Wimbledon, England, United Kingdom
James Hawes is a highly acclaimed television director who expanded his portfolio to feature films as director of the BBC Film-produced biopic of English humanitarian Nicholas Winton, One Life (2023), starring Anthony Hopkins (as Winton), Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp and Jonathan Pryce, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and released by Bleecker Street (US)/Warner Bros.
Pictures (UK) to a $56.4 million return. Hawes’s second feature as director was the spy thriller remake, The Amateur (2025), based on Robert Littell’s 1981 novel, and starring Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Julianne Nicholson, and released by 20th Century Fox.
Personal life
James Hawes was born in Wimbledon, England, and raised in Wimbledon, Lima, Peru, and Cornwall, England, by his parents. Hawes attended schools in Lima, Peru (where his father was stationed for his job in the mining industry) and in Cornwall, England, and graduated from Truro School. Hawes studied law and directed Shakespearean productions at the University of Warwick.
Known For
Facts About James Hawes
Shakespearean: James Hawes was the founder/artistic director of the Young Shakespeare Company, which toured the United Kingdom and the U.S.
Television Master: Hawes has a remarkable record as a director of some highly acclaimed television productions, including Doctor Who (2005-2006), DCI Banks (2009 pilot), Penny Dreadful (2013-2015), Black Mirror (2016-2019), Snowpiercer (2020) and Slow Horses (2022).
