James Frecheville

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James Frecheville
Frecheville and Jessica Tovey, 2012
Born
James Aitken Frecheville

(1991-04-14) 14 April 1991 (age 33)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
OccupationActor
Years active2008–present

James Aitken Frecheville (/ˈfrɛʃvɪl/;[1] born 14 April 1991) is an Australian actor known for his lead role in the Australian film Animal Kingdom as Joshua "J" Cody, a confused teenager and youngest member of a criminal family in Melbourne's underworld.[1]

Early life[edit]

Frecheville was born in Melbourne and grew up in the suburb of Malvern East. He attended Lloyd Street Primary School as a child and was educated at McKinnon Secondary College as a teenager. He found a particular interest in drama and the arts at a young age and continued to excel in this field throughout his schooling life. Initially, Frecheville was involved with various youth theatre groups (mostly amateur theatre, including school productions) before starting work as an extra on the Australian television series City Homicide.[2] Prior to his big break, Frecheville took part in a series of acting courses [3] at schools such as The Australian Film & Television Academy (TAFTA).[4]

Film career[edit]

Auditions for Animal Kingdom took place in 2008 with about 500 young men competing for the lead role of "J" Cody. Filming started in 2009, causing some disruption to Frecheville's studies as a Year Twelve high school student. At the 2010 Sundance Film Festival (where the film won the World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic), The Hollywood Reporter described Frecheville as "a brilliant casting choice."[2]

In preparation for his role in the 2018 film Black '47, Frecheville had to learn the Irish language. In an interview, he discussed the challenges of playing an Irish character and filming in Connemara, stating "It's hard to say where the challenge was because it was all challenging. It was all very cold. I'm not so good at learning languages so to pick up a language that not a great number of people speak was pretty tough, but apparently, I passed a few tests but I still have to see what the public thinks."[5]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Animal Kingdom Joshua ‘J’ Cody
2012 The First Time Ronny
2013 Adoration Tom
2014 Mall Mal
The Drop Fitz
2015 The Stanford Prison Experiment Matthew Townshend
About Scout Sam Prescott
2016 I.T. Ed Porter
2018 Black '47 Feeney
2021 The Dry Sullivan
Zátopek Ron Clarke
2023 The Royal Hotel Teeth

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2014 New Girl Buster 2 episodes
2014 Transparent Patrick 1 episode[6]
2018 Requiem Nick Miniseries, 6 episodes
2021 The Pursuit of Love Christian Talbot Miniseries, 3 episodes
2022 Peaky Blinders Jack Nelson 4 episodes
2024 Masters of the Air Major Bill Veal Miniseries, 4 episodes

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "James Frecheville's big break into film". Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b "A 17-year-old's stunning debut". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  3. ^ "ANIMAL KINGDOM | In Cinemas JUNE 3, 2010 | Official Film Site | Madman Entertainment". Animalkingdomthefilm.com.au. 3 June 2010. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  4. ^ "The Australian Film & Television Academy". tafta.com.au. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Australian actor on learning Irish to star in Black 47 Famine movie". IrishCentral.com. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  6. ^ ""Transparent" recap (1.8): Best New Girl - AfterEllen". AfterEllen. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

External links[edit]