Nicholas James

James was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania, the son of Gregory and Vicki Muscarella. He has an older brother, Michael. He attended Reynolds Junior – Senior High School, and later Penn State Behrend College, where he studied management and marketing.After attending Penn State Behrend College, James relocated to Hollywood, where he arrived with just $200 and worked providing bottle service at a bar while pursuing acting.

James was initially interested in comedic roles, especially sketch comedy in the style of Saturday Night Live. In Los Angeles, he studied acting under the tutelage of various renowned figures, including legendary acting coach Vincent Chase, for whom the eponymous fictional character on the TV series Entourage was named. Actor Shia LaBeouf was among his classmates. Later, he attended classes at Upright Citizen's Brigade, thus returning to his earlier interest in improvisational and sketch comedy.

James dropped his surname to form his stage name because, in his own words, "I don't look too Italian and people trip over that name all the time." His original surname Muscarella has however appeared as part of one of three variations of his name in film and television credits.