Image of James Frain

James Frain

James was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, and raised in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, with his eight brothers and sisters in the shadow of London's Stansted airport. His father was a stockbroker and his mother was a teacher. He was educated at Newport Free Grammar School. He earned his degree in Drama and Film at the University of East Anglia, and went on to study acting at London's prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama. He worked a variety of jobs in social work, factories, and the service industry, before traveling throughout India. While studying in London, Frain was spotted by Sir Richard Attenborough, who immediately cast him in his first feature, Shadowlands (1993), opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. With theater credits for The Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal Court, as well as, in the West End in a range of classical and modern plays, Frain's reputation quickly spread to television and film, where he won leading roles in the Oscar nominated features, Elizabeth (1998) with Cate Blanchett, and Hilary and Jackie (1998) with Rachel Griffiths. James reunited on screen with Sir Anthony Hopkins in Fox Searchlight's film, Titus (1999). In 2007, he appeared with Ian McShane on Broadway in "The Homecoming" - for which the cast won The Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble. In the U.S., Frain played leading roles in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) with Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce, Where the Heart Is (2000) opposite Natalie Portman, Deception (2000) with Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron, and Into the Blue (2005) with Paul Walker. Since moving to the States, Frain has continued to work on both sides of the Atlantic, maintaining his profile in the European independent film scene while working on popular American television series, such as "Californication" (2007), "FlashForward" (2009), "24" (2001), "Grey's Anatomy" (2005), "In Plain Sight" (2008), "The Closer" (2005), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2000), among others. James is probably best-known for his performance as "Thomas Cromwell" over three seasons of Showtime's critically-acclaimed series, "The Tudors" (2007). He appeared opposite Kate Beckinsale, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Robert De Niro in Everybody's Fine (2009). He had a major arc on HBO's hit series, "True Blood" (2008), playing "Franklin Mott"; "a tall, dark, and sexy vampire". He was last seen in Disney's TRON: Legacy (2010), opposite Jeff Bridges, released in December 2010.


Read bio at tmdb | Read bio at Wikipedia
Born:
Mar 14, 1968 In Leeds, England, UK
Movie/TV Credits:
68
First Appeared:
In the series Tales from the Crypt 1989-06-10
Latest Project:
Series Showtrial 2021-10-31
Known For
Poster of The Tunnel
Poster of Empire
Poster of The Project
Poster of Red Meat
Filmography
Movie Escape Room: Tournament of Champions Henry / Puzzlemaker 2021-07-01
Series Showtrial Damian Campbell 2021-10-31
Movie The Jester from Transylvania James Hooker 2020-01-01
Movie Against the Clock Dr. A 2019-01-11
Movie The Architect Miles Moss 2016-05-20
Series Marvel's Agent Carter Leet Brannis 2015-01-06
Series Intruders Richard Shepherd 2014-08-23
Series Gotham Theo Galavan 2014-09-22
Movie All Things To All Men Attorney General 2013-04-05
Movie Event 15 Andrews 2013-03-05
Series The White Queen Richard Neville 2013-06-16
Movie The Lone Ranger Barret 2013-07-03
Movie Born Of War Simon 2013-12-05
Series The Tunnel Kieran Ashton / John Sumner 2013-10-16
Series Sleepy Hollow Rutledge 2013-09-16
Movie Bert & Dickie Jack Beresford 2012-07-25
Movie Transit Marek 2012-03-22
Series Elementary Odin Reichenbach 2012-09-27
Movie Water for Elephants Rosie's Caretaker 2011-04-15
Series The Cape Peter Fleming / Chess 2011-01-09
Series Grimm Unknown 2011-10-28
Movie Dark Relic Sir Gregory 2010-03-27
Series Miami Medical Unknown 2010-04-02
Movie TRON: Legacy Jarvis 2010-12-14
Series Lie to Me Unknown 2009-01-21
Series FlashForward Gordon Myhill 2009-09-24
Movie Everybody's Fine Tom 2009-12-04
Movie Quid Pro Quo Father Dave 2008-06-13
Series Fringe Unknown 2008-09-09
Series True Blood Franklin Mott 2008-09-07
Series The Tudors Thomas Cromwell 2007-04-01
Movie The Front Line Eddie Gilroy 2006-07-16
Series Numb3rs Unknown 2005-01-23
Series Medium Unknown 2005-01-03
Series Empire Brutus 2005-06-28
Series Invasion Unknown 2005-09-21
Movie Into the Blue Reyes 2005-09-30
Series Threshold Unknown 2005-09-16
Movie Spartacus David 2004-03-17
Series Spartacus David 2004-04-18
Movie Path to War Richard Goodwin 2003-10-28
Movie The Count of Monte Cristo J.F. Villefort 2002-01-23
Movie The Project Harvey 2002-11-10
Series Armadillo Lorimer Black 2001-09-16
Series Law & Order: Criminal Intent Unknown 2001-09-30
Movie Reindeer Games Nick Cassidy 2000-02-25
Movie The Miracle Maker Thomas 2000-03-31
Movie Where the Heart Is Forney Hull 2000-04-27
Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Unknown 2000-10-06
Series Arabian Nights Schahzenan / Harun 2000-04-30
Series The Vice Unknown 1999-01-04
Movie Sunshine Gustave Sonnenschein 1999-09-13
Movie Titus Bassianus 1999-12-25
Movie What Rats Won't Do Jack Sullivan 1998-07-01
Movie Elizabeth Alvaro de la Quadra 1998-09-13
Movie Vigo Jean Vigo 1998-09-14
Movie Hilary and Jackie Daniel Barenboim 1998-12-30
Movie Red Meat Victor 1997-01-01
Movie Macbeth on the Estate Macbeth 1997-01-01
Movie Robinson Crusoe Robert 1997-05-12
Movie The Mill on the Floss Philip Wakem 1997-10-12
Movie Loch Ness Adrian Foote 1996-08-23
Movie Rasputin Prince Felix Yusupov 1996-03-23
Movie Nothing Personal Kenny 1996-10-18
Movie An Awfully Big Adventure John Harbour 1995-07-21
Movie Shadowlands Peter Whistler 1993-12-25
Series Prime Suspect Unknown 1991-04-07
Series Tales from the Crypt Unknown 1989-06-10