James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus was born on 9 October 1968 in Islington, London.

In the same year, Dreyfus won Second Prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for his 1997 performance as Caius Cassius in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Birmingham Rep.[8] Dreyfus's first television break came with the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.

[10] He played Thermoman in the BBC One comedy My Hero, a role he took over in the sixth series from Ardal O'Hanlon.

From 2012 to 2017, Dreyfus appeared as Reverend Roger Jones in the Sky Living series Mount Pleasant.

In an interview on SpectatorTV, Dreyfus said he was dismissed from the role following comments he made on Twitter in support of author J. K.