James Lafferty

James Martin Lafferty was born in Hemet, California July 25, 1985, to parents Jeff and Angie Lafferty, who own a local construction company. He has a younger brother, actor Stuart Lafferty. After attending Hemet High School until 2003, Lafferty enrolled in California State University, Long Beach. But at the age of eighteen, he moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, after he was cast as Nathan Scott on the teenage drama One Tree Hill on the CW.

Career

In 1997 Lafferty made his Acting debut in a bit-voice role in Made-For-Television film Annabelle's Wish. Lafferty has since made guest appearances on television shows such as Once and Again, Get Real, and Boston Public. In 2002 Lafferty starred in the ESPN Made-For-Television film A Season on the Brink a film-adaptation based on the book of the same name by John Feinstein. The film centered on the 1985-1986 season of Indiana University's college basketball team.
In 2003 Lafferty found his breakout role when he successfully auditioned for the role of Nathan Scott on The WB Teen Drama television series One Tree Hill. The series centers on two estranged half-brothers Nathan and Lucas Scott whom are both put on the same basketball team jeopardizing Nathan's position as the start player. Initially the series premiere was watched by 2.5 million viewers but viewership continued to rise progressively as the remainder of the first season continued to air. Critical reception was mixed. The series suffered a network transition as both The WB and UPN both emerged into The CW and was one of the few television series picked up for the 2006-2007 television season with its fourth season. For his role on the series Lafferty has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Teen People and Elle Girl. In May 2011 The CW renewed the series for a ninth and final season which Lafferty returned on a recurring-basis. The series finale One Tree Hill aired on April 4, 2012 to 1.43 million viewers. Over the course of the latter seasons Lafferty directed four episodes of the television series. Lafferty has received four Teen Choice Award nominations for his stint on the series.
In February 2008 Lafferty was cast in the Straight-to-DVD sequel to the cult film Donnie Darko. Production began on May 18, 2008 in Coalville, Utah and Magna, Utah on a $4 million budget. Elizabeth Berkley, Ed Westwick and Briana Evigan was confirmed to star as well as Daveigh Chase who appeared in the original. The film S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale was released in May 2009 to extremely negative reviews from critics.
In April 2011 Lafferty was confirmed to star alongside One Tree Hill Cast Mates Austin Nichols and Stephen Colletti in a planned Adventurous Reality Television series Wild Life: A New Generation of Wild in which he is an Executive Producer. Initially the series pilot was to serve as a possibility to be picked up by a television network but due to creative differences the series failed to find a network. The pilot eventually was premiered via online in May 2011 and can be seen on YouTube.

Personal life

Lafferty currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He is an ardent basketball player, and played for the New Orleans basketball team at the 2008 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game alongside Ne-Yo, Terrell Owens, Taylor Hicks, and Master P. They defeated the Hornets 51-50 with Owens being named MVP. He is a supporting partner of the professional basketball team, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs, part of the Premiere Basketball League. From 2003-2008, he hosted a yearly charity basketball event in Wilmington. However, in 2009, he announced that he was canceling the event, stating: "As a result of constant harassment and gross invasions of privacy via e-mail and telephone, targeting myself, my friends and even my family, I no longer feel comfortable holding a fundraiser in such an intimate setting with fans."
On October 27, 2008, Chad Michael Murray, Sophia Bush's ex-husband and fellow One Tree Hill co-star, confirmed a romance between Bush and Lafferty. "Sophia and I are both professional and mature enough to get through it," he said. "And now it's just easy. We're just friends. She's got James, and James and I are friends. "  In October 2009, it was reported that Lafferty and Bush's romance had ended.
As of 2010, James and actress Eve Hewson (daughter of U2's Bono) are in a relationship. The two met in 2007 while Hewson was filming The 27 Club in Wilmington, North Carolina where Lafferty filmed One Tree Hill. The two split briefly in September 2012, only to subsequently reconcile. They live together in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Annabelle's Wish	Buster	Voice only
2003	Boys on the Run	Joe Ferguson
2009	S. Darko	Justin
2011	The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy	Eigson Howard

 

 

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Emeril	James	Unaired Pilot
	Boston Public	Michael Scott	Episode 1.18: "Chapter Eighteen"
2001–2002	Once and Again	Tad	Appeared In 4 Episodes
2002	Prep	Jackson	Made-For-Television Film
	First Monday	Andrew	Episode 1.01: "Pilot"
	A Season on the Brink	Steve Alford	Made-For-Television Film
	Get Real	Billy	Episode 1.22: "The Last Weekend"
2003–2012	One Tree Hill	Nathan Scott	Main cast (Seasons 1–Season 9; 182 episodes) Director (4 episodes) Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout TV Star Male (2004) Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Chemistry (2005; shared with Chad Michael Murray) Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Scene Stealer Male (2010) Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Parental Unit (2010; shared with Bethany Joy Galeotti)
2011–present	Wild Life: A New Generation of Wild	Himself	Web series; Executive producer

Awards and nominations

Year	Group	Award	Nominated/Won	TV Show	Notes
2004	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Breakout TV Star – Male	Nominated	One Tree Hill
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Chemistry	Nominated	One Tree Hill	Shared with Chad Michael Murray
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Scene Stealer – Male	Nominated	One Tree Hill
		Parental Unit	Nominated	One Tree Hill	With Bethany Joy Lenz

• James Lafferty at the Internet Movie Database
• James Lafferty cast bio at CWTV.com