This City is Ours star 'took six months' to get role

James Nelson-Joyce has said it took him six months to secure his role on BBC One drama This City Is Ours - after being told the part would go to a "big name".

After landing the character Michael Kavanagh, in the 2025 crime drama series set on Merseyside, the Liverpudlian actor, rose to critical acclaim - and has received a BAFTA nomination for the role.

Nelson-Joyce - who plays the right-hand man of Liverpool crime boss Ronnie Phelan, played by Sean Bean - said it was a long auditioning process but he "wasn't giving up".

"I put my foot down every time," he told The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Radio 5 Live. "I heard it would come to a [big] name - but I was like, 'they're not saying no to me'."

Nelson-Joyce spoke to hosts Wayne Rooney, Kelly Somers and Kae Kurd, on the podcast - ahead of the actor's second year playing for UNICEF charity football match, Soccer Aid, which both Nelson-Joyce and Rooney will participate in on 31 May.

Outside of the upcoming charity match, Nelson-Joyce opened up about becoming an actor and his recent BAFTA-nomination for Best Actor for his role in This City is Ours.

"I put my foot down every time," Nelson-Joyce said of his experience getting the part. "I auditioned for such a long time.

"I was just like, 'there's no way they're giving this to anyone else - it's just not happening'.

"And I was honestly like auditioning and writing and sending emails and it was just like, there was no way [they're giving this to anyone else]."

He said securing the role had been "amazing" for his career.

"It's opened a lot of doors," he said. "I'm very lucky."

Nelson-Joyce has been nominated for Best Actor in Bafta Television Awards 2026 - but the call did not at first register as good news.

"It was 12 o'clock when they released the list of nominees and I had a few missed calls from my agent," the actor said.

"I was worried I was being dropped."

Nelson-Joyce said when he was eventually told he had been nominated he thought it was an April Fools' joke.

Filming has just finished for the second series of This City Is Ours.

"When we knew we were getting a second season, it was like, all these people who we love, I know they're getting employment for another six, seven months," Nelson-Joyce said.

"That's the kind of thing where I get the lift from."

On the podcast, Rooney said: "As a Scouser, you always stick together and you're proud as well when seeing the stuff he's done on TV and stuff.

"It's great when you see Scousers doing well, the stuff that James has done has been great and it's great to watch."

The former footballer said he had recently done "a little bit of acting", although he recalled a wine advert he appeared on with Manchester United as "so bad".

Nelson-Joyce joked: "We've got to get you in season three."

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