Jim was born to Rosemary (a nurse) and Jeremy (a biology teacher and headmaster) in Essex, England and grew up on the Isle of Wight where he attended his father's school. After school he spent a year teaching in Kenya before going to Exeter University to study Ancient History and Archaeology. At university he performed stand up comedy in local clubs and wrote sketch comedy. Moving to London on graduation he worked in several different jobs including as a researcher in the BBC history department and assistant at Tiger Aspect. Moving to Prague he quickly got involved in the local theatre scene, doing anything and soon started picking up international commercial castings.
