James Alexandrou

James Alexandrou
Born	James Alekos Alexandrou (1985-04-12) 12 April 1985 Islington, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Partner(s)	Kara Tointon (2006-2007)

James Alekos Alexandrou (born 12 April 1985) is an English actor, best known for playing Martin Fowler in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. He is currently the presenter of Bizarre Crime on BBC Three.

Early life

Alexandrou was born in Hackney, London, to a Greek Cypriot father^[1] and an English mother. He has a twin sister, Antoinette.

Alexandrou was educated in Waltham Forest at Chingford Foundation School, and the Anna Scher Theatre School. Other notable past pupils of Chingford Foundation School include footballer David Beckham and Sir Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Design at Apple Inc.

Career

In 1996, he successfully auditioned for the role of Martin Fowler in EastEnders. The character had actually been created shortly after the show's inception in 1985, but the role had become vacant following the departure of the previous actor Jon Peyton Price.

Alexandrou appeared in the short film Blessed Burden. In 2003, he won a celebrity edition of The Weakest Link.

On 14 April 2006, it was announced that Alexandrou wished to leave EastEnders in autumn 2007. He and Natalie Cassidy, who played his on-screen wife Sonia Fowler, left on 2 February 2007 (to tie in with the exits of Wendy Richard and Ray Brooks); although the door has been left open for a possible return in the future. He said "I've decided to leave the show to experience other aspects of my industry. Having turned 21, I felt it was a good time to leave. I owe everything to the show and would love to come back one day - that's if EastEnders would have me." On 12 October 2014 it was announced that actor James Bye would be taking over playing the role in the character's return to Albert Square. Alexandrou is said to have given the re-casting his blessing.^[2]

Over Christmas 2005, Alexandrou starred in the crime caper, 'Who Stole The Snowman?'.

In early 2007, Alexandrou appeared in the play The Homecoming opposite Harold Pinter for BBC Radio 3.

In 2007, he took acting classes at the Central School of Speech and Drama in order to "refresh his skills" after working in serial drama for so long.

Alexandrou toured the UK & Norway with the British Shakespeare Company from June–September 2007. He played Pistol in Henry V, and Orlando in As You Like It. According to press reports he turned down the chance to replace Daniel Radcliffe in the West End revival of Equus.

In 2008, he appeared in In My Name, a new play by Steven Hevey, at the Old Red Lion Theatre produced by Yaller Skunk Theatre Company. The play transferred to the Trafalgar Studio 2 from 1–19 July 2008.

In October 2008, Alexandrou appeared in All Quiet on the Western Front at the Nottingham Playhouse prior to a UK tour of the production and therefore was unable to attend the wedding of former EastEnders actor Wendy Richard and John Burns.

In March 2009, he played the part of Romeo in the Globe Theatre's production of Romeo & Juliet.

In October 2009 James joined up with EastEnders past and present, Natalie Cassidy (Sonia Jackson) and Nina Wadia (Zainab Masood), to star in comedy shorts for BBC Raw Words.

In 2010, James filmed his first feature "Semper Fidel", in Cuba. The scheduled release date is 2011.

In 2011 James took part in BBC Learning project, "Off By Heart Shakespeare", where he played Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet delivering the speech; "'tis not so deep as a well".^[3] James is currently touring theatre's throughout the UK, with the Hull Truck Theatre. He is starring as Phil, in DNA. Where a group of teenagers do something terrible and they struggle to cope and call on Phil's help.

In 2012 James appeared at the Rose Theatre Kingston, in a production of DNA.

In April 2014 he played the classic villain Iago in Shakespeare's Othello at Leicester Square Theatre.

February 2015: Silent Witness, On Our Own. Played Carl

Filmography

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1996–2007	EastEnders	Martin Fowler	Series regular
2010	Cannabis: What's the Harm	Presenter	A two-part documentary exploring the use an effects of Britain's most popular illegal drug.
	Missing	Andy Garsdale	1 episode: 2.5
2011	Semper Fidel		Film
2015	Casualty	Franny	One episode

Personal life

Alexandrou was in a relationship with Kara Tointon which began in April 2006. They split on 4 November 2007, but have remained close friends.^[4]

References

External links

• James Alexandrou at the Internet Movie Database