James Frecheville

James Aitken Frecheville (pronounced "fresh-ville"; born 1991) is an Australian actor known for his lead role in the Australian film Animal Kingdom as Joshua "J" Cody, a confused teenager and youngest member of a criminal family in Melbourne's underworld.

Frecheville was born in Melbourne and lived in the suburb of Malvern East. He attended Lloyd Street Primary School as a child and was educated at McKinnon Secondary College as a teenager. He found a particular interest in drama and the arts at a young age and continued to excel in this field throughout his schooling life. Initially, Frecheville was involved with various youth theatre groups (mostly amateur theatre, including school productions) before commencing work as an extra on the Australian television series City Homicide. Prior to his big break, Frecheville took part in a series of acting courses.

Auditions for Animal Kingdom took place in 2008 with about 500 young men competing for the lead role of "J" Cody. Filming commenced in 2009, causing some disruption to Frecheville's studies as a Year Twelve high school student. At the 2010 Sundance Film Festival (where the film won the World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic), The Hollywood Reporter described Frecheville as "a brilliant casting choice".