In 2001, James Lafferty was cast in the short-lived television series Emeril, where he portrayed Emeril's son Justin. He has also made guest appearances on Once and Again, Get Real, and Boston Public. This was followed by his role as Steve Alford in the ESPN made-for-television movie A Season on the Brink, a basketball film about the 1985-1986 season of Indiana University's men's basketball team. It was based on the book by John Feinstein.
In 2003, Lafferty was cast in The WB's new teenage drama One Tree Hill, where he portrayed the younger half-brother to series lead Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray), bad boy basketball star Nathan Scott. Of the original five main cast members who portrayed students at the fictional Tree Hill High School, he was the only teenager when the show debuted in September of 2003. Chad Michael Murray and Bethany Joy Galeotti (then known as Bethany Joy Lenz) were both twenty-two, while Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton were twenty-one. In 2009 James made his directional debut directing the twenty second episode of the sixth season of One Tree Hill. He has since gone on to direct two more episodes, with his most recent one. The fifth episode of the series eighth season. He is currently the series protagonist.
In 2009, Lafferty starred in the Donnie Darko sequel S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale as Iraq Jack. He starred as himself in the music video, "Car Crash" by Wakey!Wakey! in 2010.[1]
Lafferty currently resides in Wilmington, North Carolina, where One Tree Hill is filmed. He is an ardent basketball player, and played for the New Orleans basketball team at the 2008 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game alongside Ne-Yo, Terrell Owens, Taylor Hicks, and Master P.[2] They defeated the Hornets 51-50 with Owens being named MVP. He is a supporting partner of the professional basketball team, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs, part of the Premiere Basketball League. From 2003-2008, he hosted a yearly charity basketball event in Wilmington. However, in 2009, he announced that he was canceling the event, stating: "As a result of constant harassment and gross invasions of privacy via e-mail and telephone, targeting myself, my friends and even my family, I no longer feel comfortable holding a fundraiser in such an intimate setting with fans."[3]
On October 27, 2008, Chad Michael Murray, Sophia Bush's ex-husband and fellow One Tree Hill co-star, confirmed a romance between Bush and Lafferty. "Sophia and I are both professional and mature enough to get through it," he said. "And now it's just easy. We're just friends. She's got James, and James and I are friends." [4][5] In October 2009, it was reported that Lafferty and Bush's romance had ended.[6][7] In December 2010, it was announced James is in a relationship with U2 lead-singer Bono's youngest daughter Actress Eve Hewson.
Filmography James Lafferty