On Season 1, Bill played the antagonistic S.H.I.E.L.D. agent John Garrett. In three episodes of Season 12, where the main cast time traveled back to 1983, James played younger Garrett.
Bill died in 2017, but James said his late father “would really be over the moon about” him playing Garrett.
James auditioned for several various roles on the show before this part was offered to him.
In 2020, he told Marvel.com, “[Screenwriter Jed Whedon] said, ‘Hey, we’ve seen your auditions. We really like your work. We’ve actually got something special in mind, but I can’t tell you about that just yet.’ Later, he emailed me again and asked me what I would think of taking on the role of young John Garrett.
I think it was their kindness and their remembrance of my dad and wanting to honor him, because he was so fond of everybody involved in that show. I just remember how much fun he would talk about having while shooting.”