Before The White Lotus, Theo James had a role in the "most baffling blow job scene" in TV history.

Viewers of The White Lotus season two began the show with many questions.

Who would die? Who would be killed? What incredible one-liners would Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya gift us this time around? And most importantly, was the penis in episode one real or not?

Theo James' character Cameron - the most immediate and enduring villain of the season - caused quite a stir when he dropped trou in the premiere to change in front of Aubrey Plaza's Harper.

James confirmed it was a prosthetic during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, admitting that it was also, uh, much bigger than he'd expected.

Watch: The White Lotus season two trailer. Post continues below video.

Much has been made of the scene, but it's not the first time the actor has found himself the subject of online chatter about... penis-related TV moments.

Earlier in 2022, James starred as Henry in the HBO adaptation of The Time Traveller's Wife. In the series, every time his character time travelled (which was very often), he would leave his clothes behind. 

This saw him running through the streets naked, landing in a field of cows naked, or dropping into Chicago's tourist-riddled Millennium Park near the famous bean sculpture - you guessed it - naked.

"It was daunting in the beginning," James told The Daily Beast of the frequent nudity. "Because you know, you won't walk onto a set with 150 people who you don't know and you're like, 'OK, I'm gonna be naked and covered in oil'. But by the end of it, you just had to kind of own it because, you know, it happens a lot."

In May, viewers of The Time Traveller's Wife were left shocked by an episode two scene in which James' character Henry travelled back in time... to give himself a blow job.

Technically, Brian Altemus played the young Henry and was tasked with actually performing the scene, which saw 16-year-old Henry performing oral sex on... also 16-year-old Henry.

But it is James' older Henry who explains the situation, recounting to love interest Clare (Rose Leslie) that his dad walked in on him and that was how he figured out that his son could time travel.

The scene led to much online discussion, with people debating if it was hilarious or disturbing. Decider even called it "the most baffling blowjob scene in TV history".

I had no intention of watching The Time Traveler's Wife on HBO Max but then I saw this clip where the lead character goes back in time to give himself head and now I'm like.... maaaybe they have some good ideas I should check out? pic.twitter.com/07R25R4jju

— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) May 23, 2022

In 2019, James also starred in British historical drama Sanditon. While he played a main role across the first season's eight episodes, one scene in particular stuck out to viewers.

In it, James, as his character Sidney, emerges from the ocean in the nude.

Despite the sexiness of his more recent roles, James told the Evening Standard in early 2020 that he didn't feel objectified by nudity, or an audiences reaction to it.

"I guess as a man I don't think we have any leg to stand on. You know, it still is done and it has been done since the dawn of time for women so... we should be able to take it," he said. "If it exists we should be able to take it."

James began his acting career with small roles, including in The Inbetweeners Movie and an episode of Downton Abbey, but his breakthrough came in 2014 when he starred as Four in Divergent, the film adaptation of the first book from Veronica Roth's young adult series.

Though the Divergent series received mixed reviews and never quite hit the same heights as other similar franchises, including The Hunger Games, it did elevate its stars profiles significantly.

Rather than chase the spotlight, James decided to retreat.

"You do a certain type of film and you sign contracts where you are beholden to those roles for a certain period of time and people see you in a certain light that you have to wrestle your way out of," James told Vanity Fair of the series.

"That is a hundred percent the case with actors—and it was definitely the case with me... I felt I didn't have the fluidity to move in the directions that I wanted. You're very much in a certain type of role—and those roles can be pretty f***ing boring."

He became ultra-private, which is how he continues to live now. 

James has said his experience as a young man in Hollywood made him even more sure that a lifestyle of "sexy parties and free sh*t" was not for him.

"I like LA and have a lot of friends there [as well as a home]. As a young person, when you first get offered big movies you think, 'This is great,' but the older and slightly wiser I am, the more I know that isn't something I'm particularly interested in," he told the Evening Standard.

Theo James and wife Ruth Kearney. Image: Getty.

He has been with his wife, Irish actress Ruth Kearney, since they met while studying at Bristol Young Vic Theatre School in 2009.

They married in 2018 and welcomed a daughter in August 2021. They have not shared any photos, or revealed her name.

"It's interesting being together this long because we have really navigated through the very beginnings of a career to lots of different percolations of it. That can be really hard at times, but also that [brings] certain strengths [to] a relationship which helps us being together long term," he told the Evening Standard. 

"Suddenly you're in the public eye in a very strong way where people are interested in random pieces of your personal life — that can be very trying to anyone."

James is not on any form of social media, going so far as to describe himself as "aggressively private" outside of his work.

So, with The White Lotus season 2 wrapping up, don't be surprised if James disappears for a while, only to re-emerge (fully clothed) when the show takes on award's season in 2023.

Feature image: HBO.