James is a young lawyer, recently married and with a baby on the way. He seems to have a successful future ahead of him. So what could possibly go wrong?
"James has just started work ar a law firm and one of the partners is Angela Jahnsen who was James's tutor at college and with whom he had an affair," explains Lee. "They rapidly resume their affair but he doesn't tell Angela about his wife. I think he means to but he's quite a weak character, there's a scene where he goes to put a photo of his wife on his desk so that Angela will see it but, in the end, he just can't do it.
"I think it's all pretty exciting for James. He's bought a house for his wife, who's pregnant, but it's all happened a bit too fast for him and now his future is looking pretty much mapped out for the next 20 years. Angela, however, represents everything that James thought he wanted to be: independent, successful and without ties."
Nevertheless, James is keen to prove himself in his career and when the opportunity comes along to take a pro bono case, which is something that all young lawyers have to take on, he jumps at the chance to show Angela what he can do.
"He represents Geoff Dresner, who is being accused of arson and attempted murder. The police seem to be on a mission to pin this on Geoff, but Angela is insistent that Geoff pleads not guilty, which James can't understand. Buy she promises no to tell his wife about their affair if he goes along with it. So, at the end of the day, James thinks more about himself than his client."
" I think, when Geoff first sees James, he thinks: 'Oh, great!' he realises that James isn't going to be the best lawyer in the world but his future depends on him."
James ultimately wants to do the right thing by everyone but he's weak and he's got himself in too deep and is unable to control events spiralling around him. In contrast, Lee is totally in control of hes career and is thoroughly enjoying the variety of roles that are coming his way.
"In the Forsyte Saga I played the new lead, Jon, who is the son of Jolyon (Rupert Graves) and Irene (Gina McKee). My mum and my sister both loved the first series so it's nice to be doing something that they will like."
Lee also starred as Anna Friel's boyfriend in Me Without You, played Stuart Sutcliffe in a film about John Lennon called In His Life and appeared in the BAFTA-nominated Losing It, about teenage suicide.
Despite his success, Lee came very close to diverting his talents elsewhere. "When I was at school and I said that I wanted to be an actor, a lot of the teachers tried to discourage me. At the time, I really trusted the teachers so I went to art school instead. I did my first year in Lancaster and then my second year in Suffolk and then moved to London to do a degree in art. I didn't finish the degree in the end but fortunately thing seemed to have worked out for the best."
When he's not acting, Lee loves writing and recently wrote a play which was performed in France. "It is called Round Robin and it's about a painter who develops Alzheimer's and it explores the effects that the illness can have on the family. I also want to do more painting and I'd really like to buy my own flat, probably in London. I've been working such a lot over the past couple of years but I want to make sure that I don't stop doing the things I enjoy."
A singer in a boy band and an implusive 20-something student doesn't seem ideal preparation to become a lawyer. But for Lee Williams, roles in Channel 4's Boyz Unlimited and BBC Two's No Night Is Too Long proved to be the perfect platform to take on the role of James Hilden in the new two part drama, The Debt.
Did you know?
Lee was down to the last two auditioned to play the part of baddie Tom Riddle in Harry Potter frilm The Chamber Of Secrets. The part eventually went to Christian Coulson.
-From the BBC press pack for The Debt