Tonight, James Norton’s evil Happy Valley character Tommy Lee Royce will face off against his nemesis Catherine Cawood in what promises to be the most dramatic televised finale of the year.
Bully Royce – who was jailed on kidnapping and multiple murder charges before Happy Valley viewers saw him escape two weeks ago – has hinted he will kill the series’ protagonist, played by Sarah Lancashire.
For Norton, it was the BBC1 drama that launched him on his path to stardom. He has even said that he “owes him everything”.
But he was bullied himself, which prompted him to turn to acting after other students made his life a misery at £40,000 Ampleforth College – dubbed the Catholic Eton – where he started as a red-headed, freckled child.
This landed him in the school’s drama department, where he became a mainstay.
James Norton’s evil Happy Valley character Tommy Lee Royce will face his nemesis Catherine Cawood in the most dramatic televised finale of 2023
Bully Royce – who was jailed for kidnapping and murder before Happy Valley viewers saw him escape – has hinted he will kill the series’ protagonist, Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire
Norton has revealed he was bullied himself, which prompted him to turn to acting after other students made his life miserable at £40,000 Ampleforth College – dubbed the Catholic Eton – where he died as a red-haired, freckled child Started. Pictured: Norton in his younger years
“I had a complicated time at school. I didn’t have the best time,” admits Norton. “It didn’t help that I was bullied. I was bullied pretty badly for five years and I was also at boarding school so I couldn’t go.
“But I owe a lot to this school. I loved the theatre, I made some good friends. There is something magical about the place.
“It’s exhilarating to be a part of something so big, with that atmosphere of grandeur when you’re in such a time of change.”
The abuse, he says, has made him “socially hyper-conscious.” “Possibly a mistake,” he adds. “I’m constantly criticizing how I come across to people and how I’m judged.”
Norton’s experiences of bullying were so bad that he sought psychological help to cope.
He says: “With the help of a therapist, in a weird, perverse way, I’m kind of grateful for it.
“I’ve had a great therapist for the past four years, and he’s not from a place of drama. Luckily I don’t suffer from depression or anything like that, but it was really, really helpful to understand what [happened to me at school].’
While his character Royce’s backstory involves a mother addicted to drugs and imprisonment for drug offenses, Norton had a more privileged background.
Norton is now being dubbed the next James Bond and rumor has it in the film industry that his role in Happy Valley will have boosted his odds
The son of teachers Lavinia and Hugh Norton, he was born in Lambeth, south London, before enjoying an idyllic childhood in the market town of Malton, North Yorkshire.
He later went to Cambridge University, where he received his first degree in theology.
After attending RADA, he was cast in Happy Valley in 2013. While it was his breakthrough role, it also had its downsides – he was no longer considered “gently” in the acting world.
“Britain is obsessed with class,” he says, “and our industry is obsessed with categorization. After being in Cambridge and speaking with a certain accent, I took that risk.
“When Happy Valley came out, people called my agent and said, ‘We got this role, but it’s fancy, I’m not sure James is right for it.’ My agent punched the air, it’s a perfect one Part, a handful of aces, and you don’t get many of those in a career.
In fact, he was right. Next came Grantchester, then McMafia — and then Hollywood in Little Women, alongside Florence Pugh.
Norton is now being dubbed the next James Bond and rumor has it in the film industry that his role in Happy Valley will have boosted his odds.
He remains withdrawn, telling Vera (Virgin Atlantic’s inflight magazine), “It’s flattering to be part of the conversation.”
With such success, of course, come girlfriends. First up was Jessie Buckley – star of BBC drama War And Peace – before their split in 2017.
Devastated at their departure, she said: “We broke up, yes. It was bitter.
“He’s a great man and we’re great friends. That’s it. How diplomatic am I allowed to sound?’
Heartthrob Norton, 37, dated actress and model Imogen Poots, 33 – a graduate of Latymer School in Hammersmith, west London – whom he met in 2017 when they appeared together in the play Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse.
The couple have a flat in Peckham, south-east London, and are currently renovating a house in east London. They are close to being married after Norton fell to one knee last February.
However, Norton is busy. He has just started filming the Bob Marley biopic opposite Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays the reggae legend, and has just finished Men of Divorce opposite Rosanna Arquette.
He admits that filming Happy Valley was hugely “special” for him and reveals that even his friends across the Atlantic loved the show.
“It’s fascinating, it’s a brilliant police case, but at its core it’s about family. What translates around the world is that everyone knows what it’s like to have messed up families you can’t tear yourself away from.
‘It’s cool. I got a DM [social-media message] by Amy Schumer, and Bob Dylan loves the show too.