Stephan James (born December 16, 1993) is a Canadian actor. After starring in a string of television series as a teenager, he rose to prominence upon winning a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor for his role as track and field sprinter Jesse Owens in the 2016 film Race. In 2018, he starred in Barry Jenkins' acclaimed drama film If Beale Street Could Talk, based on the James Baldwin novel of the same name. Also that year, he portrayed Walter Cruz in the Amazon series Homecoming, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination.

Filmography

• 2026I Play Rocky — Carl Weathers
• The Legacy Lounge — Self – Host, Executive Producer, Creator
• 2026War Machine — 7
• 2025Night Always Comes — Cody
• 2025Ricky — Ricardo Smith
• 2024Babes — Claude
• 2024The Piano Lesson — Boy Charles
• Beacon 23 — Halan Kai Nielsen, Executive Producer
• 2022Delia's Gone — Louis
• Surface — Thomas Baden
• The Legacy Awards — Host
• 2021National Champions — LeMarcus James
• #FreeRayshawn — Rayshawn
• 201921 Bridges — Michael Trujillo
• Homecoming — Walter Cruz
• 2018If Beale Street Could Talk — Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt
• Shots Fired — Preston Terry
• 2016Across the Line — Mattie Slaughter
• 2016Race — Jesse Owens
• 2014Apple Mortgage Cake — William Logan
• 2014Clue: A Movie Mystery Adventure — Dmitri
• 2014Lost After Dark — Wesley
• 2014Perfect Sisters — Donny
• 2014Selma — John Lewis
• 2014The Dependables — Shane Jones
• 2014The Gabby Douglas Story — John 16-18 Years
• 2014When the Game Stands Tall — T.K. Kelly
• 2013The Railpath Hero — Damon Bishop
• 2012Home Again — Everton St.Clair
• 201112 Dates of Christmas — Michael
• Clue — Dmitri Grant
• My Babysitter's a Vampire — Jock #1
• 2010My Babysitter's a Vampire — Jock
• The Listener — Ibrahim Ayim
• Discretion — Logan
• The Journeyman — Executive Producer

Appearances as themselves (3)

• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self - Guest
• The Oscars — Self