Lennie James is beloved for his role in BBC's new drama Mr Loverman, in which he plays charming 74-year-old Barrington Jedidiah Walker, a Londoner of Antiguan heritage, who is having a secret affair with his best friend and soulmate, Morris De La Roux (Ariyon Bakare). Lennie is a familiar face on our screens thanks to his roles in The Walking Dead and Line of Duty. But how much do you know about his life away from the cameras? Find out about his home life here, from his upbringing to his wife, whom he met at 18.
Lennie's upbringing and heartbreaking childhood loss
Lennie was born in Nottingham in 1965 to Trinidadian parents and was raised in south London. The actor never knew his father and was just 11 years old when his mother, Phyllis Mary James, passed away. After that, he and his brother Kester went to live in a foster home. His experience of growing up in care inspired his TV drama, Storm Damage, which aired on the BBC in 2000.
© ShutterstockSpeaking about his mother's passing in a video for the children's charity Barnardo's in 2021, Lennie said: "People are going to say it gets better and it does, but the pain of losing your loved one, if anybody tells you it will go away, it won't. A lot of my life has been aided by people who started off as strangers and kind of ended up as family and friends so if you can find the help, take the help," he continued, adding: "It's not easy, but it's worth it."
© Fable Pictures / Des Willie / BBCWhen Lennie was nearly 16, he met his foster mum Pam, a social worker who lived in Streatham, and the pair developed a close bond. Opening up about his relationship with Pam in 1999, Lennie wrote in The Independent: "Today she mothers me as if she always has, her children are my other brother and sister and she is Nana Pam to my kids."
He also compared Pam to his mum, saying the pair had "a lot in common". "Our relationship could've been over on my 18th birthday," penned the actor. "That's when the money stopped. But it is still going strong. I think Phyllis would have liked Pam. They have a lot in common and I thank them both."
Lennie's childhood trauma left him unable to talk
Lennie recently shared the heartbreaking story of his childhood trauma, revealing he became selectively mute after losing his mother. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the actor recalled how his older brother stepped up to protect and speak for him. "I stopped talking, and so I had the view of the back of my brother’s head again," he said.
© AMCHe recounted a meeting with a social worker who was concerned about his silence, only for Kester to jump in with a powerful defense. "I remember my brother going, 'What do you want him to say?' He goes, 'He’ll talk when he’s ready, and then you’ll be asking him to shut up.' And he was kind of right." Despite the difficult past, James is now looking ahead to his career. He intends to "challenge" himself by pivoting to comedy and hopes to land a "big" role for his next project.
Family life with wife and children
Lennie is married to Giselle Glasman, a publicist and sometimes actor. The couple met in youth theatre when they were just 18. Opening up about their first kiss, Lennie previously told The Guardian: "I met my wife in youth theatre when we were 18, which meant that our first kiss was in the rehearsal room. I've never been more frightened to kiss somebody and I've never been so happy once I was doing it."
© Fable Pictures / Des Willie / BBCThe couple, who mostly live and work in America, share three grown-up daughters, who all went to university in the States. In a recent interview, Lennie shared a rare insight into fatherhood when drawing comparisons between himself and his Mr Loverman character, Barry. "Not just that he's got daughters, but how much of him keeping his true self secret was his fear of losing his girls," he told The Guardian, adding: "The idea of his youngest daughter hating him is probably more than he could bear, and I understand that very much."
