Hannah James (actress)

James grew up on a rural farm in Madison County, Virginia,^[5] where she was home-schooled, until the age of ten.^[4] When she was two, she started taking dance lessons. While she studied ballet throughout her youth, James attended the Guildford School of Acting in Surrey, England.^[6]

James's first major role was a Civil War belle, who becomes a volunteer nurse, in the mini-series Mercy Street—set in Virginia.^[3][4] The character, Emma Green, was based on a historical figure. Many Virginia newspapers celebrated that the role of Virginian belle was played by a Virginian.^[7][4][8][9] Women's Wear Daily, noting that the series would be broadcast in the same time slot as Downton Abbey, suggested James was poised to be the next "Lady Mary".^[10] James's costumes required her to wear a corset, and she described how she almost fainted on one particularly long day on set.^[11]

On November 12, 2016, producers announced that James had been cast in a single episode role (3.4) for the third season of Outlander.^[12][13]