James Norton opened up about how a challenging stage role impacted his relationship with former fiancée Imogen Poots.
The Happy Valley actor, 39, and Poots, 35, met in 2017 when they both appeared in an adaptation of War and Peace and then went on to star in a run of Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse. Norton confirmed they were engaged in February 2022.
However, they ended their relationship before Christmas, with news of their split emerging in February.
Reflecting on his intense experience performing in A Little Life—a West End adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara’s novel dealing with trauma and abuse—Norton shared that he had "given his life" to the demanding role.
He said: “If the work starts to compromise one's relationships, it can become unhealthy. Suddenly you realise you haven’t left any space for other people and so I was p***ed off with that.”
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Norton also revealed that their recent breakup wasn't his choice, sharing: “Some of the choices recently weren't mine, yet I don’t feel begrudging.
“I just mean that you have a certain amount of control over your life and choices you make, and at other times you don't.”
The couple were last seen together at the opening night of A Little Life in March 2023. Poots was also noticeably absent from all of the premieres of Bob Marley film One Love held in Jamaica, LA and London.
Earlier this year, sources told Daily Mail the pair split at the end of last year after growing apart due to busy work schedules.
When the couple met, they endured a long-distance relationship between London and New York. They had been living together in east London before their split.
Poots previously opened up about navigating their relationship when they worked far apart. "It's all I've ever known, I've never known something to fall apart because of distance," she told the Standard. "Sharing a bathroom, however, is quite another matter!"
In the same interview, the British star revealed that his role in the stage adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara’s novel led to him having panic attacks.
Last year, he played Jude, a character who experienced abuse as a child, and told the outlet that it “was the hardest thing I’ve done”.
Norton admitted he was “naive” in thinking he would be able to separate work and life.
“I was a mess,” he said. “Having panic attacks. During the first week I watched the Bill Nighy movie Living and started to cry.
“I was still crying 45 minutes later, coughing up tears. I started resenting the play and I was a catatonic mess.
“I’d go home and watch Gogglebox for two hours. I got really confused, and I’d wake up and my first feeling was rage. I’d think, ‘Why the f*** am I doing this?’”
He added: “But by the end I felt incredible. I was exhausted and hurting, but months after the show finished I was talking to the producer and said we should do it again.”
A warning on the website of the Savoy Theatre, one of the venues it was staged in, said the production included “strong language, nudity, sexual violence, physical and emotional abuse, self-harm, and suicide”.
It also contained “moments of flashing/strobe lighting, blood, smoking, periods of loud music and the use of strong scents”.
Norton is known for playing villain Tommy Lee Royce in Bafta-winning drama series Happy Valley and most recently played Robert Edwards in the film Joy, which tells the story of the world’s first in vitro fertilisation (IVF) baby.
