James Buckley is more down to earth than I expected. I grew up watching him as the fil💃thy, foul-mouthed, and compulsive liar Jay Cartwright in The Inbetweeners, so to meet him face to face and suddenly find ourselves talking about video games is oddly surreal. He’s lovely though, and remains surprised when fans meet him and aren’t bombarded with sex jokes♍.
“I don’t really think I’ve got a particularly big personality,” Buckley tells me. “I’d like to hope that people understand I’m a genuine gamer. I know that a lot of people - me included - all needed something to do with their time in loꩵckdown, but even before I go♎t into the world of streaming and all that kicked off I was making content on YouTube. It’s always been a big hobby of mine, and it’s always been something I’ve really enjoyed.”
Buckley is o✨ne of many actors who have naturally made the transition to streaming video games on the internet, even if he was flirting with the content making machine long before then on a that grew from one of his character’s most iconic lines. It boasts 420,000 subscribers (blaze it) which doesn’t even include his comprehensive audiences on Twitch, Twitter, and similar platforms. Buckley is an actor turned gamer, and appears keen to dip his toes into both ponds whenever the 🌞opportunity arises.
“Tonight for me is a little biꦺt mindblowing,” Buckley says on the BAFTA Game Awards red carpet, an event where he was invited to present the award for Best Multiplayer. “I’m not sure if you need to have a big personality for Twitch. I kinda see myself as a voice of calm.”
Given Jay Cartwright is known for completing every game under the sun, and even those that aren’t even out yet or don’t exist, I a✃sk Buckley how such a thing is even possible in a world of live service games and constant updates eager to keep us attached to the virtual world forever. He’s a genuine gamer, so is no stranger to taking on this manner of task.
“To be fꦡair, I’ve recently completed Hogwarts Legacy and it took me over 80 hours,” Buckley boasts. “There’s so much in it, so much to do, and for someone like me who loves collecting everything and going through things methodically it was the perfect game for me.”
While we might have disagreed on the open world hijinks of Hogwarts, I can empathise with how Buckley’s rather reserved persona isn’t what one would expect from popular streamers on Twitch, nor the characters he’s famous for portraying. He persisted though, carving 💦out a niche on the platform where former fans expecting something more outlandish continued to stick around for the good vibes. I can’t shake the feeling that a character with such an iconic place in pop culture like Jay Cartwright could become a burden overtime, but Buckley seems to warmly relish it without ever letting it hold him back.
