James Clements

James Clements is a Scottish actor, writer, theatremaker and media professional based between New York and the UK. His techniques merge voice, movement, multimedia elements and text to create socio-cultural dialogues on stage and between creatives.

In addition to numerous film and television roles in the UK (including work for the BBC, Channel 4 and an national advertising campaign), Clements has performed at New York venues including La Mama E.T.C., HERE Arts Centre and MITU580. His acting has been described as “impressive…incredibly compelling…[and] excellent,” (BroadwayWorld), “Clements’ portrayal…shines brightest” (BlogCritics) and “the strongest of the cast” (My Entertainment World).
As a creative, Clements has worked with a diverse range of artists, including Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kate Whoriskey and the Talking Band. Clements has been on the artistic team for projects at Lincoln Centre LCT3, the Public, the 92nd Street Y and Live Nation, amongst others, and his original plays have been performed in cities across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. His plays, including "Dogs of DC" (2014), "Constructing Freedom" (2015), "The Diana Tapes" (2016), “Four Sisters" (2017), “Beauty Freak” (2018), “MEDEA/BRITNEY” (2019) and “Ellis Island” (2021) have been described by critics as "magnifying" (TimeOut), "intricate" (BroadwayWorld) and “intellectual” (Theatre is Easy).
Clements co-wrote and directed the social justice theatre piece, “GUAC: My Son, My Hero,” with Manuel Oliver, whose son was murdered in the Parkland shooting. The play toured major venues across the United States through 2019-2020, produced by Change the Ref in association with Live Nation, with the goal of directly affecting change in the gun laws of the nation.
He is the Producing Co-Artistic Director of What Will the Neighbors Say?, a theatre company with a mission to provoke questions through untold stories, which he co-founded in 2016. The company has become a mainstay of the Brooklyn and Downtown scenes. WWTNS? has premiered 7 original plays totaling over 150 performances in 5 cities in 4 countries on 2 continents, and co-presented a further 19 pieces. The company has received support from the National Endowment fior the Arts. Off-Broadway Angels, the Indie Theatre Fund, the Rhode Island Foundation, the Brooklyn Arts Council and A.R.T./New York, amongst others. The company are Artists-in-Residence at CUNY Queens College in New York.
Clements’ work has been featured in a number of outlets including the New York Times, The Evening Times, Harper’s Bazaar, International Business Times, Playbill, the Daily Mail, STV, BBC Radio, the Guardian, The Miami Herald and TimeOut.
Clements is an Affiliated Instructor for Drama at his alma mater, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and is also a member of the Adjunct Faculty of CUNY Queen’s Drama Department. He has undertaken guest lectures for the NYU Liberal Studies Program and at Fordham University in the Production and Design Department. In 2015, Clements received a grant from Donn Russell of the Peg Sandvoort Foundation for the development of new work.
He currently freelances in television as a development producer. He has worked in development for international media companies such as Red Arrow and Cineflix Media, and is currently writing and co-creating an original drama series for UK television.