Nathan James is a Pittsburgh native now based in Los Angeles, where he continues his work as a writer, performer, and storyteller. He began his acting career with the renowned Kuntu Repertory Theater and holds a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.F.A. from Penn State University, where he also served as an instructor in Fundamentals of Acting. His acclaimed one-man play, Growing Pains, has been produced at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, United Solo Theatre Festival (Theatre Row NYC), and at theaters and festivals nationwide.

Nathan is one of seven playwrights of The New Black Fest’s HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments, a collection of 10-minute plays written in response to the police shooting of Mike Brown. Hands Up was featured in American Theatre Magazine, and his piece, Superiority Fantasy, was selected as BBC Radio’s Play of the Week. In 2014, he won first place at Amateur Night at the Apollo with an original poem, and his poetry can also be heard on the soundtrack of the Emmy-nominated documentary Torch Bearers.

Film/TV credits: Standing Up, Falling Down (Tilted Windmill), Madam Secretary (CBS), Shades of Blue (NBC), Quantico (ABC), The Wire (HBO), Deception (ABC), Blindspot (NBC), VINYL (HBO), Person of Interest (CBS), Blue Bloods (CBS), The Path (Hulu), Service to Man (STARZ).

Theater credits:
Off-Broadway: Travisville (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Playing with Fire (Gene Frankel Theatre), Black Angels Over Tuskegee (St. Luke’s Theatre).
New York: Maid’s Door (Billie Holiday Theatre), Armed (The Amoralists), Growing Pains (Billie Holiday Theatre).
Regional: Blues for an Alabama Sky (Center Theatre Group), Radio Golf (Two River Theater), Feeding Beatrice (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Julius Caesar (Pennsylvania Centre Stage), Work Song (Pittsburgh City Theatre).