Occupation: CEO of Sunset Studios

Parents: Marcus and Gloria Blackthorne

Siblings: Georgie Blackthorne

Children: Stormy and Miranda Blackthorne

Relationships: Alex Reynolds, Leigh Purcell, Brooke Taylor, Mackenzie Stone

Appearances: Seasons 1 – 6

Who’d Play Him: Billy Campbell

The King of Sunset Studios: The nephew of legendary actor Nathan Blackthorne, James rose from his uncle’s shadow to become one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers and the head of Sunset Studios. His success made him the patriarch of a sprawling entertainment dynasty, but his determination to protect his family and empire often led him into manipulation, secrecy, and betrayal. After his younger sister, Georgie, died following the birth of her son, James raised Ethan as his own while concealing that the boy’s father was his longtime enemy, Will Thomerson.

James was once married to celebrated actress Alex Reynolds, with whom he had two children, Stormy and Miranda. Their glamorous marriage was destroyed after Nathan sexually assaulted Alex and James refused to believe her. Haunted by guilt over having taken Alex away from his uncle years earlier, James remained blindly devoted to Nathan long after evidence of his predatory behavior emerged. His refusal to accept the truth damaged relationships with nearly everyone closest to him before he finally recognized Nathan for the monster he was.

James fell in love with Brooke Taylor, a young makeup artist working on his film Angel Assassin. Their relationship was opposed by his daughter, Miranda, and complicated by Brooke’s growing attraction to Ethan. Hoping to keep them apart, James paid nurse Winter Austen to seduce his nephew. When Brooke’s first marriage was revealed to be legally unresolved, she traveled to the Dominican Republic for a divorce and slept with Ethan while there. James followed her after surviving a plane crash that left him with temporary amnesia, briefly believing he was still married to Alex. Once his memory returned, he reconciled with Brooke, unaware that she was pregnant with Ethan’s child.

James and Brooke eventually married, but their happiness was repeatedly shattered by deception and tragedy. A dangerous brain operation temporarily confined James to a wheelchair, allowing Brett Armstrong to seize control at Sunset Studios and secretly drug him to delay his recovery. After regaining the use of his legs, James faced the kidnapping of Brooke’s baby, Michael, and later learned that Ethan was the child’s biological father.

During a scandal involving the illegal sale of weapons through Blackthorne-Reynolds, James ordered Stormy and Eddie to hijack the shipment. Congressman Seth Walker retaliated by shooting James, leaving him near death and killing James’s lover, Leigh Purcell.

The shooting temporarily changed James, and he emerged determined to become a gentler father and businessman. He cast Alex in Angel Assassin 2 and attempted to repair damaged family relationships, but financial troubles and his lingering obsession with Brooke soon revived his controlling instincts. When Brooke and Ethan prepared to leave Los Angeles together, James finally accepted that they would always find their way back to each other. At the same time, Jacqueline Lamont threatened to seize Sunset Studios and the Blackthorne mansion over claims that James and Nathan had stolen both from her father’s estate.