Sturgess was born on May 16, 1981 in London, England but grew up in Farnham, Surrey outside of London. In 1997 he studied at the University of Salford's School of Media, Music and Performance. He graduated in 1999 with an HND in Media and Performance.
In 2007, he made his big break in Julie Taymor's musical Across the Universe, portraying Jude Feeny, a paternally-shorn young man who travels to the U.S. amid the raging throes of the late '60s and falls in love with sheltered American teenager, Lucy, played by Evan Rachel Wood. In 2008, he appeared in the historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl in the supporting role of George Boleyn opposite Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana. He also starred in 21 as the male lead Ben Campbell, a movie about five MIT students, who, by counting cards, take Las Vegas casinos for millions.
Sturgess' co-stars in 21 include Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne. Heartless, a film directed by Philip Ridley, premiered on August 31, 2009 at the London FrightFest Film Festival, a popular horror film festival. Sturgess provides voice over work in a 3-D animated feature film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.There are three announced film projects due to film during 2010 at this time, Upside Down, Promised Land, and One Day.
Upside Down completed filming in May in Montreal and is currently in.
I watched One Day the other day, and I kept thinking, "Why does he look so familiar?" Now I know why: I love 21!! And I officially love Jim Sturgess. He's a cutie! ;)