JAMES NORTON - A MAN of MANY TALENTS

AS HIS STAR SKYROCKETS AT THE AGE OF 40, THE BRITISH ACTOR REFUSES TO BE TYPECAST

- Penelope Clifton

Some years ago, James Norton questioned his job as a TV, film and stage actor, telling The Guardian he was worried acting was frivolous and he was just “dressing up and f--king around”.

In the same interview, he admitted that, at one point, a director asked him, “Can you be a bit more charismatic?”

“That’s the hardest thing to just try and do! Especially since I was too young and self-conscious to even really know what she meant,” he recalled.

Despite his concerns, Norton has enjoyed a steady career in the business since leaving the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2010, six months before graduating, to accept an acting assignment. And this year, the 40-year-old Brit has taken things up a notch, executive producing and starring in King & Conqueror (streaming now on SBS On Demand), which he told The Guardian was "the closest I've ever come to feeling like I'd bitten off too much". Shot in Iceland, the series was inspired by the Battle of Hastings in 1066.