He’s played everyone from a Malia party rep to a Turkish diplomat and an aristocratic gangster.

And Theo James’ varied span of acting roles seem to have confused his fans, who have been left shocked by his real voice.

Taking part in an interview this week to promote his new lead role in The Gentlemen, Theo, 39, left listeners of Capital Radio reeling with his English accent.

A TikTok video of Theo talking about his days at Nottingham University has been inundated with comments from his flabbergasted fanbase.

Many admitted they thought the actor was American, while others simply gasped: HE TALKS LIKE THIS….!??

Theo James’ varied span of acting roles seem to have confused his fans, who have been left shocked by his real voice

One fan mused: ‘So hold on in the inbetweeners movie his voice hadn’t broken?’

Theo has perfected his American accent over his career, even admitting that while filming The Time Traveler’s Wife in 2022, that he kept up the accent the whole time on set. 

Born Theodore Peter James Kinnaird Taptiklis, Theo hails from Buckinghamshire, growing up with his four older siblings on an old farm near Aylesbury.

He adopted his middle name James as his surname for acting, but his father Philip is of Greek descent before spending his childhood in New Zealand. 

His mother Jane has Scottish roots.

After studying philosophy at Nottingham and dabbling in rock bands, Theo’s acting career took off with some quintessentially British roles – in the period drama Downton Abbey and the cult coming of age comedy The Inbetweeners. 

His 2010 Downton Abbey saw the actor play the Turkish diplomat who died in Lady Mary’s bed.

He went on to score laughs as Malia party rep James in 2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie, who was part of an infamously disgusting scene in the film’s finale.

Taking part in an interview this week to promote his new lead role in The Gentlemen, Theo left listeners of Capital Radio reeling with his English accent

Theo has perfected his American accent over his career, even admitting that while filming The Time Traveler’s Wife in 2022 (pictured), that he kept up the accent the whole time on set

Theo played Malia party rep James in 2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie, who was part of an infamously disgusting scene in the film’s finale

More recently, the hunky actor had a particularly memorable scene in second series of The White Lotus after his character stripped completely naked 

He didn’t catch the attention of audiences across the pond until he was cast in the popular popcorn movie trilogy The Divergent Series in 2015, which promptly scored him a loyal fan-girl following.

The big screen adaptations of Veronica Roth’s YA book series alongside his role as an aristocratic vampire in The Underworld movies saw his fame levels soar in the US for the first time. 

More recently, the hunky actor had a particularly memorable scene in second series of The White Lotus after his character stripped completely naked, causing yet another fan frenzy. 

In The Gentlemen, Theo is back to his English roots starring as the lead Eddie who inherits his father’s sizeable estate only to discover its a weed empire owned by the legendary Mickey Pearson.

Guy Ritchie’s TV series is set in the same world as the 2019 film version, but withan entirely new cast which also includes Skins star Kaya Scodelario, Joely Richardson, Danny Ings and Gaia Weiss.

While he’s working with his childhood hero and British institution Ritchie, there is one iconic English role Theo is steering clear of – James Bond. 

Theo recently called the prospect of taking on the huge role ‘terrifying’ and insisted there were ‘better people for the job’.

He told the Guardian: ‘Everyone’s interested in [me playing Bond] because it’s a big part of British cultural identity, but that probably wouldn’t be me.

‘I do think there are better people for that job. And, honestly, it would be terrifying: if you do that, there’s no going back’.

In The Gentlemen, Theo is back to his English roots starring as the lead Eddie who inherits his father’s sizeable estate only to discover its a weed empire