James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Agent Carter and the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame, and murder suspect Lee Ashworth in the second season of the ITV series Broadchurch. D'Arcy also co-starred in Christopher Nolan's war movies Dunkirk (2017) and Oppenheimer (2023). He wrote and directed Made in Italy (2020).

Simon D'Arcy was born on 24 August 1975 in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.^[1][2] His father Richard died when he was a child. His mother, Caroline, was a nurse.^[3] She raised D'Arcy and his sister Charlotte in Fulham, London.^[2]

In 1991, after graduating from the West Sussex school Christ's Hospital, D'Arcy went to Australia, where he worked in the drama department of a school in Perth for one year.^[2] When he returned to London, he entered a three-year course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), completing a BA in Acting in 1995.^[2]

His first appearances on television were small roles on the television series Silent Witness (1996) and Dalziel and Pascoe (1996),^[2] followed by roles in television films such as Ruth Rendell's Bribery and Corruption,^[4] The Canterville Ghost,^[5] and the title role in The Ice House^[2] (all 1997). In 1997, he played Blifil in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling and he appeared in Wilde.^[3] In 1999, he acted in the World War I drama The Trench^[2] as well as having a small role in the comedy Guest House Paradiso.^[3]

From 2001 to the present he has played bigger roles and leading characters in the mini-series Rebel Heart (2001 as Ernie Coyne),^[6] The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (2001, Nicholas Nickleby)^[7] and Revelation (2001, Jake Martel).^[3] In 2002, he portrayed a young Sherlock Holmes in the television film Sherlock: Case of Evil.^[3] In 2003, he played the role of Barnaby Caspian in the film Dot the I,^[3] and the character Jim Caddon on the series P.O.W.^[8] He also gained wider recognition when he portrayed 1st Lt. Tom Pullings in Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003).^[2]

He appeared in the horror films Exorcist: The Beginning (2004, Father Francis), An American Haunting (2005, Richard Powell) and Rise: Blood Hunter (2007, Bishop).^[2] He also appeared on television as Derek Kettering in Agatha Christie's Poirot, The Mystery of the Blue Train (2005), as Jerry Burton in Agatha Christie's Marple: The Moving Finger, as Tiberius Gracchus in the Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire episode "Revolution" (2007), as Toby Clifford in Fallen Angel (2007)^{[citation needed]} and as Tom Bertram in ITV's production of Mansfield Park (2007).^[3]

He lent his voice to BBC radio dramas such as Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Bram Stoker's Dracula,^[9] and Winifred Holtby's The Crowded Street.^[10] He played the role of Duncan Atwood in Secret Diary of a Call Girl.^[1]

In 2011 he played the role of King Edward VIII in W.E., directed by Madonna.^[11] In 2012, he played Rufus Sixsmith (young and old) in addition to two other minor roles in the independent film Cloud Atlas,^[3] as well as Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho star Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock.^[2] In 2013, he played the role of Eric Zimit in After the Dark (other title: The Philosophers).^[3]

In mid-2014 he played the role of Lee Ashworth in series 2 of Broadchurch.^[1] He appeared as the main villain in the 2014 action comedy Let's Be Cops, as a malevolent Los Angeles crime boss.^[2] In 2015, he appeared in the films Survivor and Jupiter Ascending.^[3] He starred as a British Army Colonel Winnant in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017).^[2] In 2018, he appeared in the Showtime series Homeland.^[12][13]

Between January 2015 and March 2016 D'Arcy was a series regular in the television series Agent Carter. In the series, he played Edwin Jarvis, the loyal butler of Howard Stark, which shares continuity with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was his first comedic role.^[1][14] He reprised his role of Edwin Jarvis in Avengers: Endgame, making D'Arcy the first to have portrayed the same character originally from an MCU TV series into an MCU film.^[1][15] In 2017, he appeared in the film The Snowman.^[3] D'Arcy starred in the war film Oppenheimer in 2023.^[16]

D'Arcy made his directorial debut with Made in Italy of 2020.^[17]

In 2024 he portrayed the role of Mr Greed in the music video "HAHAHA" by American rapper Lil Dicky. ^[18]

• Nominated for the Ian Charleson Award in 2002 (Outstanding Performance in a Classical Role) for Edward II.^[19]