James was born in Tacoma, Washington. His mother, Maria Viola, passed away when he was very young, and he was adopted by his mother’s sister and her husband. He thinks of his aunt and uncle as his mother and father. James’ mother and her sister Angela came to America from Italy when they were children. Angela married William Campbell. Out of love for his mother and respect for his Italian heritage, James uses his mother and aunt’s maiden name of Viola.
When James was growing up, William was an English teacher and Angela owned a bar. William was the one who first introduced James to Shakespeare, starting a lifelong love affair with his plays. Angela and William have two children of their own, Laura and Jennifer, whom James considers his sisters. The three of them started working at Angela’s bar when they were young. This bar was the first place James started performing. He would play the piano while his sisters sang. As James got older, he would try out songs he wrote on guitar or piano in the bar. Occasionally James will still come back to the bar to perform.
James Viola family is very supportive of his career as an actor. His sister Laura is a lawyer, specializing in artist contracts. She works at a law firm in Seattle and represents some of the city’s top musicians. Jennifer is a teacher, like their father. She teaches mathematics at Stadium High School in Tacoma. The family never misses a single opening night of one of James’ plays. James realized how lucky he was to have such a supportive family when he went to college. He found that some of his other friends were not so lucky, and that their families did not approve of their decisions to pursue an artistic career.