James Kot is a Canadian actor who grew up on the snowy tundra of Saskatoon. As a kid he was consumed with sports, school, and acting. When he wasn't playing ice hockey outside and dreaming about a career in the NHL, he was interested in movies and plays. At the age of seven, Kot brought home a slip of paper from school with a notice of a theater looking for an actor, much to the surprise of his parents. At the age of eight, he starred in his first professional production of Medea playing one of the title character’s children, which started his career fully. Kot moved to Calgary with his family when he was 14, where he continued his interest in sports while his interest in the performing arts grew when he starred in school productions of musicals and one-act plays. In Kot’s senior year, he won first place at the Kiwanis Music Festival, a citywide competition where he competed in Musical Theatre performing “Reviewing the Situation” from Oliver. After high school, Kot earned a BFA (Honors) in Acting from the University of Victoria before settling in Vancouver.
After becoming a professional actor, Kot’s first feature film role came as the young soldier Skinner in the war drama, Passchendaele, which was the premiere film of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and remains the biggest budget Canadian production of all time.
Kot is known for Virgin River, playing the role of Brie’s villainous ex-boyfriend Don and his guest starring role opposite Erin Krakow as Thomas Higgins in season 11 of Hallmark Channel’s long-running, hit series When Calls The Heart.
Other recurring roles include Kurt Baratier in the animated series Beyblade Burst, as Agent Neil McNeil in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and as Dr. Tommy Madden in Hallmark Mystery’s Ruby Herring Mysteries opposite Taylor Cole and Stephen Huszar.
Additional credits include The CW’s Supergirl and Supernatural, iZombie, ABC’s Motive, Lifetime’s Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story and Fairly Legal for USA Network. A career highlight was working in a supporting role alongside former Bond girl and “Medicine Woman,” Jane Seymour, on Dear Prudence, a Hallmark Channel original movie.
When he is not in front of the camera, Kot mentors other actors at his acting studio Kot Creative Studios and produces projects close to his heart like the esteemed short film You Are the Blue, which sheds light on the struggle with invisible illness and identity. The short premiered at the Edmonton International Film Festival and at the Whistler Film Festival + Summit it was given the prestigious “Star to Watch” for Eden Summer Gilmore’s performance.
