James Killeen was born and raised in Dublin. In 2014, at the age of 19, he moved to London to study on the BA Actor Musicianship course at Rose Bruford College where he graduated 3 years later with a 1st Class Honours degree.

James recently starred as Richard Hannay in THE 39 STEPS (The English Theatre of Hamburg, dir. Paul Glaser) and Lysander in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Pleasure Dome Theatre Company, dir. Scott le Crass). Other theatre credits include: FATHERLAND (Lyric Hammersmith, Frantic Assembly), VANILLA (Southwark Playhouse, dir. Aran Cherkez) and FAERIES (Cockpit Theatre, dir. Scott le Crass).

James also works extensively as a professional voice-over artist having worked with recent

clients such as Robinsons, Vivo, Knorr, McDonald’s, The Guardian Labs and CBeebies.

At the age of 18, James auditioned for the original West End production of The Commitments while in his final year of secondary school.

All these years later, James is absolutely thrilled to be playing the role of Jimmy Rabbitte in the UK & Ireland tour of The Commitments. He is particularly excited to come home to perform in Ireland to friends and family in this dream role and iconic show.