James Swanton

@jamescswanton.bsky.social

846 Followers 149 Following

Actor in Apartment 7A, Inside No. 9, Tarot, The First Omen, Lot No. 249, Stopmotion, DASHCAM, Host, Frankenstein's Creature. Much Dickens on stage. Spooky.

A view of Kim Newman's office, featuring Kim, James Swanton and a watchful framed picture of Count Orlok.
A home office lined with posters for pantos past. There are also two bookshelves, one of which displays a copy of THE GHASTLY ONE.
A sheet of newsprint, including an article with the title '"A Christmas Carol" Read Aloud With Dickensian Intensity'.
A green-lit selfie with a piercing white over-the-shoulder light.
A blue-lit selfie, incorporating a Victorian collar and a fragment of Christmas tree.
A selfie of a man in a Victorian waistcoat, accented by moody under-lighting.
A gurning selfie in front of a window.
Selfie against an ornate window with blue stained-glass panels.
'One of the absolute highlights of the weekend! A prodigious and extraordinary talent - if he's performing anywhere near you, don't miss it. It's an unforgettable experience.'
A Victorian man (me) horrified to find himself reflected in a mirror.
A selfie with infernal red under-lighting.
A profile view of a beardy man in Victorian dress staring through a window.
A low-angle shot of a man in a Victorian waistcoat manhandling his necktie.
A selfie of a bearded man in a Victorian waistcoat.
The face of a semi-bearded man in dark Victorian dress.
Graphic for THE SIGNAL-MAN & THE TRIAL FOR MURDER: a man in undertaker's weeds disappearing into a black void.
John J. Johnston as he appeared in the BBC documentary TUTANKHAMUN IN COLOUR.
A background of foggy grey bricks, adorned with glowing lettering: 'JAMES SWANTON PRESENTS THE SIGNAL-MAN AND THE TRIAL FOR MURDER - LIVE HALLOWEEN PERFORMANCES'.
Boris Karloff's Frankenstein Monster peers out from between two blocks of white text on a pink background. Above: 'MAN-MADE MONSTERS #3'. Below: 'FRANKENSTEIN (1931) WITH JAMES SWANTON'.
Yellow-tinged poster art for THE FAIRY MOON by Richard Wells. A concerned-looking man is threatened by an entirely demonic one.
My character in THE FAIRY MOON, with silk scarf and slicked-back hair, looms menacingly by a church spire.
An old-fashioned brown book spine with the words 'ALL THE YEAR ROUND. 1866.' stamped against red.
The capitalised title 'KILLING DICKENS' embellished with the tagline 'Do you control your own fate?' An old-fashioned locomotive emerges from the fog in the background.
David Stuart Davies discussing Sherlock Holmes. He is magnificently attired in a golden-hued corduroy jacket.
Three book spines: Miranda Seymour's MARY SHELLEY, Matthew Lewis's THE MONK and Peter Shaffer's AMADEUS.
A black-and-white photo of Emily Greenwood directing James Swanton in STOP DEAD.
Standard train selfie.
A behind-the-scenes shot taken during the recent production of THE FAIRY MOON: a monochrome profile of James sat at a café table.
Theatrical poster for HARRIET CRAIG (1950).
I believe this is an illustration for THE MONK. The theme is adjacent.
A screenshot of my Letterboxd account.
The cover for the Oxford World's Classics edition of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA by Gaston Leroux.
All costumed for THE FAIRY MOON in black velvet jacket, silk scarf and pomade-tamed hair.
Mike Muncer, Becky Darke, James Swanton and Jeremy Dyson on the stage of Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds.
A printed page showing the cast list for the 'Curse of the Ninth' episode of INSIDE NO. 9.
The green-toned spine of a book emblazoned with the words 'OLD CURIOSITY SHOP II'.
James Swanton, dressed in a purple suit, holds his Hamilton Deane Award, which is topped with a detailed resin sculpture of Count Dracula.
A man in Victorian dress stands within the hallowed precincts of the York Ghost Merchants.
From left to right: Mark Gatiss, Lot No. 249 (moi), Lou Elsey, Dave Elsey.
James’s West End credits include his acclaimed one-man play Sikes & Nancy (Trafalgar Studios), the Ghost in The Ghost Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (Tristan Bates Theatre) and the Condemned Man in In the Penal Colony (Arts Theatre). Other London theatre includes The Signal-Man, The Trial for Murder and all five of The Christmas Books (Charles Dickens Museum), Victor Carroon in The Quatermass Experiment (Alexandra Palace), Henry Irving in Irving Undead (The Space), the Creature in Frankenstein’s Creature (Theatre503), Jacob Marley in Scrooge & Marley (Waterloo East Theatre) and a staging of unmade Hammer film Vampirella (Regent Street Cinema). On television, James has recently played the title roles in two BBC chillers: ‘The Curse of the Ninth’ in the final series of Inside No. 9 and Lot No. 249, Mark Gatiss’s Ghost Story for Christmas. On film, James this year fathered the Antichrist as both Satan in Apartment 7A (Paramount) and the Jackal in The First Omen (20th Century Studios). His other horror film appearances include Tarot, To Fire You Come at Last, Stopmotion, DASHCAM, Host, Broadcast Signal Intrusion, Double Date and the one-man feature Frankenstein’s Creature. James was this year’s recipient of the Dracula Society’s Hamilton Deane Award, in part for his ghost stories at the Dickens Museum. Website: www.jamesswanton.com
You have played Lucifer in the York Mystery Plays in Shambles Market and now two Hollywood roles where you "father the Antichrist". How do you sleep at night?! "To misquote Shakespeare: 'Hell is empty and all the devils are me'. I've never lost a wink of sleep over any of this stuff. Hard to feel threatened when you're repeatedly the source of the threat!"
James Swanton, in Victorian dress, holds a ledger against a blue-lit background. There is greenery on the mantelpiece and a Christmas tree studded with gold fairy lights.
The DVD cover for APARTMENT 7A, featuring James Swanton's Satan in silhouette.
James Swanton models a heavy black cloak wirh a red lining.