Erana James

Erana James is a New Zealand actress of Māori descent, belonging to the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Waikato-Tainui iwi. Born on 17 February 1999, she is recognized internationally for her performances across television and film. She gained widespread attention portraying Toni Shalifoe in the Amazon Prime Video series The Wilds and was later cast in a main role as Curly in the FX science fiction show Alien: Earth.

James was raised on a farm in Whangārei, New Zealand. At ten years old, she moved to Wellington, where she attended Wellington Girls' College. At age fourteen, she began formal acting training at Rata Studios, a Wellington performing arts school managed by director Miranda Harcourt. James later enrolled at Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology alongside Te Reo Māori. She has noted that preserving Te Reo Māori is deeply meaningful to her as a Māori woman. She resides in Melbourne, Australia.

In 2013, while still attending school, James made an uncredited appearance in Peter Jackson's fantasy feature The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Her major screen debut arrived in 2017 when she secured the leading role in the New Zealand feature film The Changeover while still in high school. Directed by Miranda Harcourt and Stuart McKenzie and adapted from Margaret Mahy's 1984 novel, the film featured James alongside actors Timothy Spall, Lucy Lawless, Melanie Lynskey, and Nicholas Galitzine.

James appeared in the New Zealand children's comedy web series Lucy Lewis Can't Lose in 2017 and followed it with a role in the 2019 Stan series Golden Boy. She achieved international prominence in 2020 after landing the role of Toni Shalifoe, a fierce and guarded young woman, in Sarah Streicher's survival drama series The Wilds. The series aired on Amazon Prime Video for two seasons before concluding in 2022. Reflecting on the project, James shared that filming in New Zealand alongside familiar crew provided a supportive environment for her first major American production.

In 2023, James featured in the Australian drama series Bad Behaviour and co-starred with Julian Dennison in the New Zealand film Uproar. She played Nellie in the 2024 feature film We Were Dangerous, directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu and co-produced by Taika Waititi. Set in 1950s New Zealand, the story follows three young women at a girls' reform school. The film premiered in the Narrative Feature Competition at the 2024 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival, where Collider described it as a funny and frightening coming-of-age story anchored by James.

James joined the main cast of Noah Hawley's FX science fiction series Alien: Earth in 2025. Set within the Alien universe, the show features James as Curly, a synthetic human housing a child's consciousness within an adult body. The series debuted on 12 August 2025 and was renewed for a second season with filming planned for London in 2026. Also in 2025, James appeared in the music videos for Divine Feelings and Fascination in the Dark by Australian musician Vance Joy.