15-05-2025
James Norton reveals he regularly goes on Buddhist retreats in France as he explains how travelling South Asia aged 18 'was the making of him' after unhappy and 'angsty' school years
James Norton has revealed he goes on regular Buddhist retreats to a quiet monastery in France in a bid to stay sane amid life in the spotlight.
The actor, 39, has also confessed that travelling as a young man 'was the making of him' after his confidence was ripped to shreds during unhappy student years at £57,615-a-year Ampleforth College.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Travel Secrets podcast, the Happy Valley star explained: 'I go to a Buddhist retreat in the South of France and I study a lot of Buddhism.
'I go to a retreat called Plum Village, which I love. I've been for the last few years. It's in the Dordogne region and it's an amazing experience. I know the community there now and I know the abbot and it's a very special place.
'Thich Nhat Hanh set up this incredible movement - it's a very friendly, very accessible form of buddhism if you're someone like me who is interested in and knows the value in it but life just always [gets in the way]. It's buddhist-lite.'
James, who also starred in TV series McMafia and Grantchester, explained how travelling has played a pivotal role in his life.
He recalled: 'The most important year for me was my gap year. It was huge because I'd had a strange time at school.
'I went to one of these old, big boarding schools and I loved theatre and music and I wasn't so good at rugby and I went through puberty really late so it wasn't the most rewarding period for me.
'Ampleforth was rugby-orientated, lots of testosterone, lots of one-upmanship. It's quite competitive. I did well there, I knuckled down and worked hard, and I did later find my footing in the theatre, but it wasn't the happiest few years.
'And then when I travelled... I realise in hindsight how much I just needed to get away from everything - be on my own. It really was the making of me. I came back and felt like I'd arrived in adult life.'
He went on: 'When I left school, I decided to take a year in between then and university. I really gung-ho about it.
'I did three months working multiple bar jobs - one in a golf club, one in a hotel... earned about three and a half thousand pounds, and then I just packed a bag and went on a trip for eight months around South Asia on my own - at 18. It was crazy.
'I can't quite believe how brazen I was. I went to Nepal, Tibet, India - I didn't see a single person I knew for eight months. It was mad.
'But I realise now how important that trip was for me, in so many ways: my relationship with the world and travel and myself - mostly myself.'
James said that the experience allowed him to let go of his 'angsty' teen years, but admitted there were times on the trip he was left 'crying my eyes out'.
He explained: 'It just gave me confidence. Teenage years are complicated for lots of people, and they were really complicated for me. I didn't have the greatest time. I really needed to shed that period in my life. It was an angsty period.
'The trip was a challenge for me because I was on my own, and I had some really confronting moments where I was crying my eyes out.
'It was pre-smartphones. I had a Nokia at the bottom of my bag, I didn't call anyone - I had a weekly internet café chat with my parents.'
Reflecting on how he liked to travel these days, he said: 'I use travel now as a time to see the world and to learn. I also use it to challenge myself and spend time on my own, which isn't natural for me.
'And it's not always that easy. Some of the places I go now, when I travel on my own, are challenging and confronting in all the right ways.'
James is currently one of the favourites to be the next James Bond amid the fervent speculation over who will take on the coveted role after Daniel Craig's departure.
With the next instalment still years away names keep being added to the mix, from Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Theo James to Harris Dickinson and Callum Turner.
James still remains a frontrunner, despite doing his best to distance himself from the rumours in recent years.
The Playing Nice star previously said it was 'crazy and quite flattering' to be considered to play 007, but insisted it was 'pure speculation'.
He told The Times in 2020 being in the running is: 'Crazy... It's bizarre and quite flattering to be even considered in that world, but beyond that? Pure speculation.'
James added: 'I love the franchise and hope Barbara Broccoli continues to make it relevant. Going into the heart of Bond's private world, as opposed to one-liners, is already progress.'
In an interview with GQ in 2021, he insisted that while having a 'Bond of colour' is important, executives should focus on 'treating the cause rather than the symptom'.
The TV star said: 'That, I think, is more important. Obviously, casting a Bond of colour is important if handled in a sensitive way, but there's a bigger picture: we need to treat the cause rather than the symptom.
'There is an argument, that, rather than make Bond a person of colour, why not create a new story that is authentically representative and isn't repurposed?
'But, then, you're never going to create a franchise that will compete with the power of Bond from the off. It has to be a bit of everything, doesn't it? I realise I'm talking in platitudes.'
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