James Norton's heartbreak as actor splits from fiancee Imogen Poots after six years of relationship
He is one of the most sought-after leading actors and is known as a nice guy off-screen as well.
However, friends say Happy Valley star James Norton is quietly nursing a heartbreak following his split from fiancée Imogen Poots.
I'm told the couple, who shared a house in east London, split before Christmas after 'growing apart'.
Both have been working almost constantly, along with James, 38, filming the Bob Marley biopic One Love, which premiered this week in Los Angeles and London.
He plays Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.
IHappy Valley star James Norton is quietly nursing a heartbreak following his split from fiancée Imogen Poots. Imogen was last seen with James in March 2023
Both have been working almost constantly, along with James, 38, filming the Bob Marley biopic One Love, which premiered this week in Los Angeles and London
Imogen, 34, spent time in New Mexico in 2022 making the drama Outer Range with James Brolin and is now on set in Northamptonshire making Hedda, a new adaptation of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.
In an interview last year to promote the Happy Valley finale, James said of his busy acting life: “It comes as a price of not seeing each other much, but we're willing to pay that for the sake of having someone in your live close to you who gets it, who is forgiving, who gives up his Sunday for an annoying self-tape (audition).'
They got together after meeting at a performance of the play Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse in 2017 and got engaged in February 2022.
Imogen was last seen with James after the opening night of A Little Life, an adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara's novel, in March 2023.
However, there was no sign of her at any of the One Love premieres, in Jamaica, LA or London.
The pair also appear to have unfollowed each other on social media, with Imogen not among those liking Norton's recent Instagram posts about the film.
Spokespeople for Imogen and James did not return requests for comment this week.
James, who went to Ampleforth College before studying theology at Cambridge, has recently completed Joy, a Netflix film about the first 'test tube baby' Louise Brown.
He is now making Playing Nice, a four-part ITV drama about parents who discover their children have been accidentally switched at birth. James is an executive producer of that show through his own company, Rabbit Track Productions.
The pair also appear to have unfollowed each other on social media, with Imogen not among those liking Norton's recent Instagram posts about the film.
In an interview last year to promote the Happy Valley finale, he said of his busy acting life: 'It comes as a price because you don't see each other much' (James photo)
Imogen and James met playing alongside each other in Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse in the summer of 2017
They got engaged in February 2022 (pictured together in January 2020)
Speaking about the Happy Valley finale, which saw escaped convict Tommy Lee Royce have a final confrontation with Sergeant Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire, he said: “That scene with Sarah was one of the most special scenes I've ever shot. The whole set was quiet, like being in a church.
“She was spectacular and I felt like I did a good job. I usually leave the set thinking, 'Oh no, I screwed up! It's terrible! I hate myself. Life is nonsense!'
In the final scenes of Happy Valley, Cawood called her sister Clare and told her that she had had a final meeting with Tommy. 'We had a bit of an argument again. I won, that's clear. I think I may have sung one of your crocheted blankets.”