The Gentlemen's Theo James had a morbid job in the NHS before he made it in acting

Theo James has opened up about his old job in the NHS, and it's not what you'd expect.

The British star is clearly the man of the moment after taking on the lead role in Guy Richie's new The Gentlemen series on Netflix.

Aside from being a gifted actor, his distinctive deep voice and dedication to the craft is what's got him in the conversation to play the next James Bond - despite thinking that he looks 'too greek' to pull it off.

The 39-year-old takes centre stage as he plays the Duke of Halstead, Eddie Horniman, in a sort of spin-off from 2019 film The Gentlemen, which starred the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant.

The new eight-part show, however, has a completely different plot to the film, along with a new-look cast.

"It's a very different story, completely different story," James told LADbible.

"You know, it's about a soldier that comes back to his family seat and his father's died.

"And he unwittingly inherits the entire estate over his older brother.

Jeff Spicer/WireImage

"So it's a different story. It's in the world, but it's more in a fun, bombastic Guy Ritchie way, there's a bit of a deconstruction of British classism, the hyper wealthy, the fading power of the aristocracy. So in terms of that, no, it's not the same in any way.

"I enjoyed the movie, but no, there was no pressure in that way."

As well as playing a small role in The Inbetweeners Movie in 2011, the Wycombe-born actor got his big break in 2014's Divergent film series, where he returned for two more films in 2015 and 2016.

And he's not looked back since, with roles in 2018 How It Ends, as well as executive producing and starring in Backstabbing for Beginners in the same year.

Netflix

James, who was raised in Askett, is the son of a business consultant father and a mother who worked for the NHS.

The now-famous actor has since opened up about his bizarre part time job at the NHS, where he would collect and clean up dead people's furniture.

"My mum set me up [with] one of many jobs, you know, that you had early in your career, and I had to go and collect furniture and then clean it down," he explained.

"Yeah, it was actually pretty tricky, because what you had to do is inevitably after, this is pretty dark, but after someone passes away, they have a bunch of stuff that needs to be used for someone else in the NHS system.

"So you had to go into these homes with these grieving people and I’ll be like 'Can I have that bed back?’"

Pexels

Alongside James in The Gentlemen is Ray Winstone, starring as drug kingpin Bobby Glass, who runs his industrial cannabis empire from prison.

Kaya Scodelario also stars as Susie Glass, Bobby’s fashionable and ruthless daughter, handling the drug operation while her dad is locked up.

Vinnie Jones stars as the estate's groundskeeper Geoff Seacombe, while Giancarlo Esposito plays one of the richest men in the world, with a big secret.

Despite the star-studded cast, it seems that some fans will be watching it for one reason only, and that reason is Theo James.

The Gentlemen is available to watch on Netflix now.

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