With an extensive background in theatre, athletics and academics, Kelly has skill, knowledge and a confidence that impressed Sylvester Stallone, who cast him as the troubled son of a former neighbor who has returned, down on her luck, to the old neighborhood.

While Rocky Balboa marks James' feature film debut, his television credits include episodes of 7th Heaven, On Common Ground' and Profiler.

Though focused on an acting career, he was captain of his high school football team, plays soccer and racquetball, and has studied Muai Thai, a traditional form of self defense.

Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to an African-American/Native-American mother and a father who is a second generation Irishman in the United States. He was recently adopted into the Crow nation and given the formal Indian name Kawaysash. It means he who does not give up.