His first television acting role was as Gabriel Brennan on the Sky One drama Is Harry on the Boat?.

Finnegan also made appearances on Mile High, Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures , the Crime drama The Last Detective as well as the BBC One show Spooks.

He played the role of Dr Alex Arnott for one episode of EastEnders,[2] making an appearance on Doctors as Duncan Montague in 2011 and David Hewitt in 2012.

He was introduced as the lawyer of Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring), before it was revealed that he was the son of Mac Nightingale (David Easter).

Since his arrival, Finnegan's character James has been in a relationship with John Paul McQueen (James Sutton), involved in a love-triangle with characters Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) and Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool), as well as being involved in a historical abuse storyline with his father Mac.