5 Things You Didn't Know About James Spader

James Spader on Blacklist

James Spader has had many critically acclaimed roles, such as his role in the TV series The Practice and Boston Legal. But how much do you really know about James Spader? Let's take a look at 5 facts that might just surprise you.

He has two children

Spader has two children from his relationship with Victoria Spader, his ex-wife: Sebastian, who was born in 1989, and Elijah, who was born in 1992. Sebastian is currently working as a film and television producer and director. His most well-known works are his directing work on the video shorts Ridden, Slice and 1234: A Study of Romance. Elijah is not currently working in the film industry.

Prefers to be called by a nickname

Although the world knows him as James Spader, Spader admits that he prefers to be called the nickname “Jimmy” rather than “James.”

He doesn't like to watch his movies

Like many actors, Spader is self-conscious about his own work and refuses to watch any of the movies that he has appeared in. This is not an unusual trait in Hollywood; many well-known actors, from Johnny Depp to Meryl Streep and beyond, have admitted to not watching, or at least going to any lengths possible to avoid watching, their many feature film roles.

He has bad eyesight

Spader has very bad eyesight and is unable to wear contact lenses for medical reasons. While Spader has no trouble in films or TV roles where he is allowed to wear his glasses, some trouble arises when the producer won't allow the character to sport corrective eye gear. Spader has admitted that when he is playing characters who don't wear eyeglasses, he has difficulty making out the face of the actor or actors who are with him in scenes.

He won two Emmys for the same character—in different shows

He is the first actor in the history of the Emmy Awards to win the Award for Best Actor in a Drama for the same character—but in two completely different TV shows. He won the Emmy Award for playing Alan Shore in The Practice, and the Award for playing Alan Shore in Boston Legal.