With only a handful of fleeting film and TV appearances under his belt, this curly-haired Canadian seduced viewers — and allegedly his costar Anne Heche — as a hunky biologist on
Men in Trees, a quirky dramedy about a relationship coach stranded in Alaska. Although conceived as a vehicle for tabloid target Heche, the unknown Tupper shot to fame on the series and became the dream date of ladies everywhere due to his convincingly steamy on-screen sex scenes. Prior to
Trees, Tupper had honed his acting skills in theater and appeared in a handful of little-seen indies (
Loudmouth Soup,
Invisible). But while
Trees constituted his big break, it also prompted his big breakup: In November 2006 he split from his wife, and in January of the following year, gossip rags linked Tupper with Heche, who had recently separated from her husband.
James Tupper Fast Facts:
- After high school, he lived on a coffee farm in East Africa and studied Swahili.
- Acted in several off-Broadway plays, including An Actor Prepares and After the Rain.
- Cowrote and appeared in 2005's Loudmouth Soup, an improvised indie that was filmed in one night.
- James Tupper Relationships:
- Anne Heche - Significant Other
- Atlas Heche Tupper - Son
- James Tupper - Father
- Katherine Mayfield - Wife (separated)
- College:
- Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (MFA in Theatre Arts)
