James Ford is a fictional character from the
ABC original
soap opera,
One Life to Live. The role was played by Nic Robuck from June 9, 2010, to January 11, 2012. Robuck revealed in an interview with
ABC Daytime that his pairing with Starr (
Kristen Alderson) was a big hit with fans, stating: "We have fans that wait outside the studio every day with pictures, and they talk about the storyline. They always ask, 'Are you and Starr going to get together?' I always tell them, 'You'll just have to wait and see." Originally, Robuck was just supposed to be brought as Starr's new love interest, but when the writers noticed the resemblance between himself and co-star
David A. Gregory, who plays
Robert Ford, they made them brothers. James and his brother were raised in
Dayton, Ohio. Their father was a criminal who ran a chop shop and forced James to work on his crew when he was 15. Robert got a scholarship for film school and moved to California, leaving James alone with his father. In order to escape, James stole $50,000 from his father; his father sent one of his thugs, Bull, after him. James is first seen as a stranger talking to
Starr Manning about the problems in their lives. James is later revealed to be the brother of
Robert Ford, who is nearly beaten to death. James's voice helps Ford regain consciousness. When the police arrive to question his brother, James leaves and encounters Bull. James finds his way to the parking garage, where he finds Starr, who is having car trouble. James fixes her car, but Bull finally catches up to him and James demands that Starr get in the car with him. As they speed away, Starr loses her purse. The two escape to her aunt’s cabin, where James opens up about his father. James tells her that he stole $50,000 from his father. Starr and James decide the only way to get the money is to steal a car worth as much as he owes Bull. After stealing a car, the two wind up in an accident after Starr's attempt to keep James from hitting an animal causes them to crash into a tree. James decides to surrender to Bull, promising to work off the money he owes. Though he tells her to stay away, Starr follows him to the abandoned barn where he is meeting Bull. Starr's father
Todd Manning also arrives with $50,000 in exchange for his other daughter,
Dani's boyfriend,
Nate Salinger. The situation starts to unravel; as Bull and Todd fight, James picks up a shovel and attempts to knock Bull out as Starr grabs Bull's gun and accidentally shoots James. James makes it through surgery, and, shortly after, he tells Starr he has feelings for her. Starr tells James that they can never see one another again. James learns that Nate's mother,
Inez is the mother who abandoned him and Bobby when they were kids. He begins dating
Langston Wilde to make Starr jealous. Starr, James, and Langston all enroll in Llanview University around the same time and are surprised to learn the Ford is teaching a class that they are all taking. When Starr learns from Robert that her mother's fiancée,
Elijah Clarke is actually a serial killer and her boyfriend
Cole Thornhart knew about it, she is furious; James goes to comfort her. Brody Lovett shows up at LU and beat up Ford for sleeping with Jessica while she was not in her right mind. This upsets Langston, so she pretends to give Ford a second chance and secretly has photos taken of the two of them making out. She sends the pictures to the dean and gets Ford fired. James loses his chance on education once Ford gets fired from his teaching position. Thanks to Clint Buchanan, Ford gets his job back after Clint made a call to the Dean, and James is able to stay in school. Starr, Dani, and Hope are kidnapped by Elijah Clarke; Starr gets away. When Hannah goes through with her plans to get rid of Starr and Hope for good, James catches on and decides to handle it. He finds Starr trapped in the attic of Hannah's home in Delaware. Hannah has them dress up in
Halloween costumes and takes them to the cemetery where she forces them to dig their own graves at gunpoint. She knocks James out and makes Starr bury him alive. As Hannah is about to bury Starr, James rises from the grave and distracts Hannah long enough for Starr to bash her unconscious with a shovel. The two subsequently turn her in to the police. When Cole kills Elijah believing that Starr and Hope were trapped in the building he just blew, James tries to help Starr and Cole run. Cole turns himself in and is sentenced to 10 years in prison; Starr is heartbroken. James comforts her and tries to help her forget about her problems. When Eddie shows up in town, Bobby and James are forced to let him live with them because James will go to jail for stealing the $50,000 from him. Eddie picks up right where he left off and continues terrorizing James. On November 24, James and Ford attend the
Cramer family Thanksgiving celebration and Eddie crashes it. After Eddie punches James in front of everyone, he is arrested. Starr convinces James that he doesn't have to live in fear of his father anymore and they spend Thanksgiving with her family. Later, James becomes furious at Eddie for his action and confronts him at his hotel room at gunpoint. Though he nearly does so, James realizes that he cannot put Starr through the same ordeal that she went through when Cole was arrested and diverts his aim. He warns his father to leave town before he changes his mind or before someone else attempts to do so. James also dates a girl named Michelle to get over Starr. They almost have sex but stop because his heart belongs to Starr. It is revealed that he and Nate are the paternal uncles of
Ryder Ford (Robert's son with
Jessica Buchanan). On February 28, 2011, James and Starr become a couple. On August 10, 2011, James and Starr have sex for the first time. On January 3, 2012, James goes to Starr's house to warn her that Cole has broken out of prison and wonders if she has seen him. Starr assures him that she has not, and James leaves. Later he returns, suspicious that Starr is hiding something. Sure enough, James walks in on Starr and Cole as they profess their love for one another. On January 10, realizing that Starr will never stop loving Cole, James breaks up with her. ==Ryder Ford==