About Me.

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James Ladanyi is an actor, producer, and podcaster based in Te Whanganui-a-tara, Wellington, New Zealand. An alumnus of the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, James is multifaceted artist, working across a broad range of creative mediums, including theatre, film, television, podcasting, and voice acting.
 

James was born and raised in Wellington, attending Roseneath Primary School and later Scots College, where he was Head Prefect in 2013. Following his final year, he began studying a Bachelor of Arts at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University, majoring in Theatre and History. In 2016- the third and final year of his degree- James completed a six-month university exchange to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He graduated in 2017, having achieved Deans List honours twice.
 

After his undergraduate degree, James made the decision to pursue further acting training overseas, ultimately moving to the United Kingdom in 2018, where he auditioned for seven Masters-level drama school programmes across the country. James was offered courses of study at three schools: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Guildford School of Acting, and EAST 15 Acting School. James chose Bristol, where he studied from 2018-2019, joining a list of prestigious acting alumni including Daniel Day Lewis, Olivia Coleman, Mark Strong, Patrick Stewart, Naomie Harris, and Jeremy Irons.

James’ studies were financially supported by receiving grants from the Wellington Performing Arts Fund, the Wallace Foundation, and the Dame Malvina Major Foundation- who awarded him the 2018 ‘Wellington Arts Excellence Award’.

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The COVID-19 pandemic forced James to return back to New Zealand in 2020, where he has been living and working since.

James has created, produced, and performed in stage productions for Bats Theatre, Circa Theatre, the New Zealand Fringe Festival, and regional tours. His screen credits include work on Mr. Corman (Apple TV), Bad Behaviour (Sundance Film Festival), and independent short films Buzzkill, and One Way. James also works as a freelance artist across the podcasting, voice acting, and acting-for-education industries.
 

For performance work, James is proud to be
represented by Gail Cowan Management.