James Frain

James Frain is an English actor. His best known television roles include Thomas Cromwell in the Showtime/CBC historical drama The Tudors (2007–2009), Franklin Mott in the HBO drama True Blood (2010), Warwick the Kingmaker in the BBC drama serial The White Queen (2013), John Sumner in the Sky/Canal+ crime drama The Tunnel (2013), Ferdinand Chevalier in the BBC/Space sci-fi thriller Orphan Black (2015–2017), Theo Galavan/Azrael in Fox's Gotham (2015–2016), and Sarek in Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2019).

In film, he is best known for playing Daniel Barenboim and Álvaro de la Quadra in the biographical dramas Hilary and Jackie and Elizabeth, respectively (both 1998), Bassianus in the Shakespeare adaptation Titus (1999), and Gérard de Villefort in the historical drama The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).

Early life and education

James Frain was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and brought up in Stansted Mountfitchet, near Bishop's Stortford, Essex, the eldest of eight children of a teacher mother and a stockbroker father.<ref name="empire"/>

He was educated at Newport Free Grammar School, studied Drama and Film at the University of East Anglia, and trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.<ref name="empire">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

Screen

In 1993, while in his final year of drama school, Frain made his film debut in Shadowlands, after being spotted by the film director Richard Attenborough.<ref name="empire"/> In 1995, He starred as a Northern Irish terrorist in the Thaddeus O'Sullivan directed film, Nothing Personal.<ref name="tv">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2000, he was nominated for Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's 20th Genie Awards in Toronto, for his performance as Gustave Sonnenschein in the István Szabó directed film Sunshine.<ref name="ham">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Frain has also appeared in a number of television series, including Soldier Soldier (1993); Armadillo (2001); 24 (2005); Invasion (2006); and The Closer (2006). He played 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 True Blood. In season 2 of Grimm, Frain joined the cast as a mysterious recurring character named Eric Renard.<ref name="empire"/><ref name="ham"/>

He appeared in the second season of Gotham as Azrael, and portrayed Sarek, the father of Spock, on Star Trek: Discovery, the second prequel TV series in the Star Trek franchise.Template:When<ref name="ham"/>

Stage

Frain 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 in New York. He was a recipient of the 2008 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performances along with the rest of the cast of The Homecoming (2007).<ref name="empire"/><ref name="ham"/>

Personal life

In 2004, Frain married director Marta Cunningham; they have two children.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The couple announced their separation in February 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Shadowlands	Peter Whistler
1995	An Awfully Big Adventure	John Harbour
	Nothing Personal	Kenny
	Bruised Fruit	Dan	Short film
1996	Loch Ness	Adrian Foote
1997	Red Meat	Victor
	Robinson Crusoe	Robert
1998	What Rats Won't Do	Jack
	Hilary and Jackie	Daniel Barenboim
	Elizabeth	Álvaro de la Quadra
	Vigo: A Passion for Life	Jean Vigo
1999	Sunshine	Gustave Sonnenschein
	Titus	Bassianus
2000	Zero Eight		Short film
	Reindeer Games	Nick Cassidy
	The Miracle Maker	Thomas (voice)
	Where the Heart Is	Forney Hull
2002	The Count of Monte Cristo	J.F. Villefort
2005	Into the Blue	Reyes
2006	The Front Line	Eddie Gilroy
2008	Quid Pro Quo	Father Dave
2009	Everybody's Fine	Tom
2010	Tron: Legacy	Jarvis
2011	Water for Elephants	Rosie's Caretaker
2012	Transit	Marek
	Bert and Dickie	Jack Beresford
2013	All Things to All Men	Attorney General
	The Lone Ranger	Barret
	Alpha Alert	Andrews
2014	Born of War	Simon
2015	Olivia Martha Ilse	William Bailey	Short film
2016	The Architect	Miles Moss
2019	Against the Clock	Dr. A
2021	Escape Room: Tournament of Champions	Henry	Extended cut version

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Soldier Soldier	Lt. Giles Chapman	Episode: "Disintegration"
	Prime Suspect 3	Jason Baldwin	Miniseries
1995	Devil's Advocate	Doctor Vesti	TV movie
	The Buccaneers	Julius Folyat	Miniseries
1996	Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny	Prince Felix Yusupov	TV movie
	Tales from the Crypt	Elliot	Episode: "Report from the Grave"
	Strangers	Dirk	Episode: "Ceremony"
1997	The Mill on the Floss	Philip Wakem	TV movie
	Macbeth on the Estate	Macbeth	TV movie
2000	Arabian Nights	Schahzenan/Harun al-Rashid	Miniseries
2001	Armadillo	Lorimer Black	Miniseries
2001	The Vice	Gordon Ellis	Episode: "Trade"
2002	Path to War	Richard N. Goodwin	TV movie
	The Project	Harvey	TV movie
2003	Leonardo	Cesare Borgia	Miniseries
2004	Spartacus	David	Miniseries
	Pilot Season	Jeremy Pilodes	Miniseries
2005	24	Paul Raines	10 episodes
	Strong Medicine	Art Gallery Painter	Episode: "Clinical Risk"
	Empire	Marcus Junius Brutus	Miniseries
	Medium	Calley	Episode: "Light Sleeper"
	Threshold	Reverend Lavory	Episode: "Revelations"
2006	Invasion	Eli Szura	Recurring
	The Closer	Paul Andrews	Episode: "Critical Missing"
2007	Numbers	Allister McClair	Episode: "The Janus List"
2007–2009	The Tudors	Thomas Cromwell	Main role; 24 episodes
2008	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Dean Holiday	Episode: "Vanishing Act"
2008–2009	Fringe	Salman Kohl	2 episodes
2009	In Plain Sight	Phillip Ashmore/Phillip Andrews	Episode: "Once a Ponzi Time"
	Grey's Anatomy	Tom Crowley	Episode: "I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watchin' Me"
	Lie to Me	Lance McClellan	Episode: "Grievous Bodily Harm"
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Martin Gold	Episode: "Users"
	Californication	Paul Rider	Episode: "Mia Culpa"
2009–2010	FlashForward	Dr. Gordon Myhill	2 episodes
2010	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Jeffrey Hughes	Episode: "Sin City Blue"
	Dark Relic	Sir Gregory	TV movie
	Miami Medical	Brian	Episode: "Man on the Road"
	Leverage	John Douglas Keller	Episode: "The King George Job"
	True Blood	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	8 episodes
	CSI: Miami	Richard Ellison	Episode: "Sudden Death"
2011	The Cape	Peter Fleming/Chess	Main cast
	Burn Notice	James Forte	Episode: "Eye for an Eye"
2012	The Mentalist	Terry Murphy	Episode: "At First Blush"
2012–2013	Grimm	Eric Renard	8 episodes
2013	The White Queen	Warwick the Kingmaker	Miniseries
	Sleepy Hollow	Rutelidge	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	The Tunnel	John Sumner	Main role; 4 episodes
2014	Reckless	Stanford Ashby	Episode: "When the Smoke Clears"
	Intruders	Richard Shepherd	Main cast
2015	Agent Carter	Leet Brannis	2 episodes
	True Detective	Kevin Burris	Main role; 7 episodes
2015–2016	Gotham<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Theo Galavan/Azrael<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Main role; 16 episodes
2015–2017	Orphan Black	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	8 episodes
2017	Hawaii Five-0	Sebastian Wake	Episode: "Kama' oma' o ka 'aina huli hana"
2017–2019	Star Trek: Discovery	Sarek<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Recurring role
2019	The Twilight Zone	Agent Allendale	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Elementary	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	7 episodes
2020	What We Do in the Shadows	Black Peter	Episode: "Witches"
2021	Showtrial	Sir Damian Campbell	Mini-Series
2023	Quantum Leap	Gideon Rydge

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2010	Tron: Evolution	Zuse
2021	Call of Duty: Vanguard	Major Henry Hamms

Theatre

Year	Play	Role	Venue	Notes
1991	All for Love	Myris	Almeida Theatre, London
1992	The Rules of the Game	Giorgo	Almeida Theatre, London
1993	She Stoops to Conquer	George Hastings	Queen's Theatre, London	with Peter Hall Company
1995	Zenobia	Wahballat	Young Vic, London	with Royal Shakespeare Company
2000	Other People	Mark	Royal Court Theatre, London
2001	King Lear	Edmund	Almeida Theatre, London
2007	The Homecoming	Teddy	Cort Theatre, New York City
2019	The King's Speech	Lionel Logue	Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago

External links

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• Hamilton Hodell Profile