James Frain Biography

James Dominic Frain (born 14 March 1968) is an English stage and screen actor. He is known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors, in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007 to 2009. Other starring roles include that of vampire Franklin Mott in season three of the HBO drama True Blood, Chief Magistrate Grard de Villefort in The Count of Monte Cristo, Bassianus in Titus, and Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, in the BBC drama serial The White Queen (2013).

Life and career

Frain was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and brought up in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, the eldest of eight children of a teacher mother and stockbroker father. He was educated at Newport Free Grammar School, studied English, Film and Drama at the University of East Anglia and trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. While in his final year there, he made his film debut in Shadowlands (1993) as a result of being spotted by Richard Attenborough and has had a successful film career on both sides of the Atlantic ever since.

Skilled at accents and capable of playing a large variety of roles, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 1995 Venice Film Festival for his performance as a Northern Irish terrorist in Thaddeus O'Sullivan's controversial Nothing Personal (1995) and for Best Supporting Actor at the Genies in Toronto for his performance in Istvn Szab's Sunshine (1999).

He has been a regular on the stage in the United Kingdom, appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal Court Theatre, as well as on the West End. He has also appeared on Broadway and was a recipient of the 2008 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performances along with the rest of the cast of The Homecoming (2007).

He has appeared in a number of television series, such as Armadillo (2001); 24 (2005); Invasion (2006); and The Closer (2006). His more recent roles include Thomas Cromwell in Showtime's The Tudors; the villainous billionaire 'Chess' in the NBC superhero/crime drama series The Cape; heroic Templar Sir Gregory in the Syfy original film Dark Relic (2010); and vampire Franklin Mott in the HBO drama series True Blood. In season 2 of Grimm, Frain joined the cast as a mysterious recurring character named Eric Renard.

In 2004, Frain married American actress and screenwriter Marta Cunningham. They have two children. In his spare time he is an amateur artist.

Filmography

Film

• Shadowlands (1993) - Peter Whistler
• Nothing Personal (1995) - Kenny
• An Awfully Big Adventure (1995) - John Harbour
• Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996) - Prince Felix Yusupov
• Loch Ness (1996) - Adrian Foote
• Robinson Crusoe (1997) - Uncredited role
• Red Meat (1997) - Victor
• Vigo (1998) - Jean Vigo
• Elizabeth (1998) - Spanish Ambassador lvaro de la Quadra
• Hilary and Jackie (1998) - Daniel Barenboim
• What Rats Won't Do (1998) - Jack Sullivan
• Sunshine (1999) - Gustave Sonnenschein
• Titus (1999) - Bassianus
• Where the Heart Is (2000) - Forney Hull
• Reindeer Games (2000) - Nick
• Armadillo (2001) - Lorimer Black
• The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) - J.F. Villefort
• Into the Blue (2005) - Reyes
• The Front Line (2006) - Eddie Gilroy
• Everybody's Fine (2009) - Tom
• Tron: Evolution (video game) (2010) - Zuse
• Tron: Legacy (2010) - Jarvis
• Water for Elephants (2011) - Rosie's Caretaker
• Transit (2012) - Marek
• The Lone Ranger (2013) - Barret

Television

• Prime Suspect: Series 3 (1993 miniseries) - Jason Baldwin
• The Buccaneers (1995 miniseries) - Julius Folyat, The Duke of Trevenick
• Tales from the Crypt (1996) - Elliot, Report from the Grave
• Macbeth: On The Estate (1997 TV film) - Macbeth
• Arabian Nights (2000) - Schahzenan / Harun al-Rashid
• The Vice (2001) (TV series)(Series 4 Episode 1: Trade) - Gordon Ellis
• Leonardo (2003) (TV series) - Cesare Borgia
• Spartacus (TV film) (2004) - David
• Empire (2005) - Marcus Junius Brutus
• 24 (2005) - Paul Raines
• Threshold (2005) (episode title: "Revelations" - Reverend Lavery)
• Invasion (2006) - Eli Szura
• The Closer (2006) - Paul Andrews
• The Tudors (2007-09) - Thomas Cromwell
• Law and Order: Criminal Intent (2008) (Episode title: "Vanishing Act"; Dean Holiday)
• Fringe (2008) (Episode title: "Safe"; Salmon Kohl)
• In Plain Sight (2009) (Episode title: "Once a Ponzi Time"; Philip Ashmore/Roy Murray)
• Grey's Anatomy (2009) (Episode title: "I Always Feel Like Someone Is Watchin' Me"; Tom)
• Lie to Me (2009) (Episode title: "Grievous Bodily Harm"; Lance McClellan)
• Law & Order: SVU (2009) (Episode title: "Users"; Martin Gold)
• Californication (2009) (Episode title: "Mia Culpa"; Paul)
• FlashForward (2009-10) - Dr. Gordon Myhill
• Leverage (2010) (Episode title: "The King George Job"; John Douglas Keller)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2010) (Episode title; "Sin City Blue"; Jeffrey Hughes)
• CSI Miami (2010) (Episode title: "Sudden Death"; Richard Ellison)
• True Blood (2010) - Franklin Mott
• The Cape (2011) - Peter Fleming/Chess
• Burn Notice (2011) (Episode title: "Eye for an Eye"; James Forte)
• The Mentalist (2012) - episode "At First Blush"
• Grimm (2012-13) - Eric Renard
• The White Queen (2013) - Lord Warwick, "the Kingmaker"
• Sleepy Hollow (2013) - Rutledge
• The Tunnel (2013) - John Sumner
• Intruders (TBA) - Richards Shepherd