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James Frain

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ABOUT JAMES FRAIN

as Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex

Date of Birth: March 14, 1968

Birth Place: Leeds, England

Eye Color: Blue

Height: 6' (1.83 m)

Family: one of eight siblings

Wife: Marta Cunningham (2004 to present)

Education: BA Drama University of East Anglia, then went on to study at London's Central School of Speech and Drama

Actor Bio:The eldest of eight children of a stockbroker and a teacher, Frain began thinking about acting as a kid but didn't get serious until he entered the University of East Anglia. After graduation, he moved on to London's Central School of Speech and Drama. His very first film audition resulted in a role as one of Anthony Hopkins' students in Sir Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands.
Since that debut performance 15 years ago, Frain has kept busy on both sides of the Atlantic. On film, career highlights include playing pianist Daniel Barenboim in Hilary and Jackie, Bassianus in Julie Taymor's Titus, Natalie Portman's love interest in Where the Heart Is and Kim Raver's ex in the fourth season of 24. (Like most of those who pass through the world of Jack Bauer, his character, Paul Raines, did not survive.) On stage, he's acted in productions at the Royal Court and Royal Shakespeare Company, among others.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Non-acting careers: Audio Books

Movies: Quid Pro Quo (2007), Into the Blue (2005), Spartacus (2004), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), Where the Heart Is (2000), The Miracle Maker (2000), Reindeer Games (2000), Elizabeth (1998), Vigo (1998), Robinson Crusoe (1997)

TV Shows: The Tudors (2007), Numb3rs (as Allistar McClair, 2007), The Closer (2006), Invasion: as Eli Suzra, 2006), 24: (as Paul Raines, 2005), Threshold (as Reverand Lavory, 2005), Prime Suspect (1993)

Stage: King Lear (Edmund) at Almeida Theatre, Othello (Iago) at BBC Radio 3, Other People (Mark) at Royal Court Theatre, Zenophobia (Wahballat) at RSC, She Stoops to Conquer (Hastings) at Queen Theatre in London, All For Love (Myris) at Almeida and tour, Rules of the Game (Giorgo) Almeida.

Big break: Shadowlands (1993)

Best known for: Where the Heart Is (2000), Sunshine (1999), 24 - (2005)

Awards: none (yet). One Genie nomination in 2000 - supporting actor for Sunshine

Upcoming projects:

James Frain plays Thomas Cromwell in The Tudors

Talk about...

James Frain

INTERVIEWS:

TV Guide interview with James April 10th, 2009

MEMORABLE QUOTES

In reference to his many siblings James once said in a 2000 interview, " Once you've had the first four, it becomes self-regulating. I could change a nappy [diaper] with one hand by the time I was six years old."

"I spend a lot of time with my brothers and sisters. They're really important to me. If I'm feeling down, or alone, or frightened, it's always them I turn to. When I was a teenager I was very keen to leave home. I just wanted to get into the world and do things."

In which medium - film or stage - do you most prefer working? "It's sort of ridiculous to compare the two because they're so different. But I do prefer film. Film is about the spontaneous and natural moment. It should be the same in theatre but it's not. Also, and I know this is opposite to what many people say, I think film is the actor's medium and theatre is the director's. On stage, the director chooses what play is done and then determines the style and tone of the performance - it's all about the director's vision. With film, that's not so much the case and they never tell you to be anything but natural. In theatre, the term 'natural' is used in a disparaging fashion. I like to come back to the theatre, though, because of the writing." James Frain (from 2002 interview while doing King Lear).

From a 1999 interview - "Promoting the parts I appear in is part of the business. I understand that and accept that but it's a big, big intrusion into your life. Also, as you become more of a personality, you become less of an actor."

"My knowledge of history was pretty thin," Frain admits, "but as far as [show creator] Michael Hirst was concerned, my character was the Lenin of the Reformation. He wanted to annihilate the Catholic Church and basically did within five years."

The key to The Tudors' success? "[Hirst] put a lot of sex in it and made it look young and fresh and edgy," Frain says, "but once people get drawn into the story, they're good to go because the story is fantastic."

Working on The Tudors' excellent scripts helped pave the way for his return the stage: "It really got me in the mode of thinking like a stage actor, where you have to absolutely respect the language."

On researching Tudor history: "The more that I read, the more I realized that there are lots of different opinions about this period of history. I think I found someone who said that it's the single-most written-about period of English history, the 1515 to 1530, '45, that period, because we don't finally know the answer to a lot of key questions, and because the personalities were complex and because there are different agendas at stake," Frain says during an interview in January at the Universal Hilton. "Through English history, you can see different periods have different perspectives on what happened being more or less sympathetic toward the Catholic or Protestant idea of events, or who is responsible for what." Fresno Bee

"What they're doing with this show is shaking up history a bit and adding this pop angle to it in a way that we can relate to these people being like us. They're finding the connections between their world and our world. We were looking for parallels as a way of recreating the feeling of the court rather than portray the exact look of it. Sometimes if you try and do it completely accurately to the actual look and the flavor of the history, it distances you because there are lots of things about our world that are very different."

"Henry VII was the rock star of his time. That's part of what Johnny's performance is all about -- creating what an equivalent character would be like today. These people are driven by the same things we are driven by. Like we are sexual, they were driven by passion and were confused about ideas of the world and religion and how the world should be run, what they are prepared to die for and kill for. It just goes to show human nature hasn't changed that much."

FUN FACTS

James is the oldest of eight siblings

He just made his Broadway debut in the fall of 2007 appearing in the Harold Pinter revival "The Homecoming"

Some of his non-acting jobs were - waiter, playgroup leader, theatre usher and cleaning toilets on a construction site

FAN SITES

James Frain Online

About James Frain

Meet James Frain - Hungarian fansite

JAMES FRAIN PHOTOS


At the premiere for Season 2

Chief magistrate J. F. Villefort in The Count of Monte Cristo	James Frain portrays Roman Senator Marcus Brutus in Empire
As the Spanish ambassador in Elizabeth	As the Spanish Ambassador in Elizabeth
With Natalie Portman in Where the Heart Is
YouTube tribute video by elenarosca	James and wife Marta

Naphae	Latest page update: made by Naphae , May 30 2009, 6:16 PM EDT (about this update About This Update Edited by Naphae 2 words added 1 word deleted view changes - complete history)
	Keyword tags: anne boleyn callum blue gabrielle anwar henry cavill henry czerny henry viii james frain jeremy northam jonathan rhys meyers kris holden-reid maria doyle kennedy natalie dormer nick dunning sam neill showtime tudors steven waddington the tudors More Info: links to this page

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Maggie-AnneB.

James and His Movies (page: 1 2 3 4 5 ... last page)

128

Jun 9 2009, 8:15 PM EDT by cromwellian1540

Thread started: Apr 1 2009, 7:26 PM EDT Watch

What movies/etc. have you seen of James? What ones do you want to see? Which ones are your most loved/ most hated?

2 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?

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aquasplash

James Frain admirers (page: 1 2 3 4 5)

Apr 13 2009, 11:24 PM EDT by scooter&buster

Thread started: Apr 11 2009, 5:48 AM EDT Watch

A nice interview from the man, giving a few tidbits away of what to come.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Tudors-Preview-Playing-1004986.aspx?rss=news&partnerid=spi&profileid=05#comments

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thekombatbarbie

The Walmart Baby!!

Mar 15 2009, 4:33 PM EDT by thekombatbarbie

Thread started: Mar 13 2009, 2:30 PM EDT Watch

Did any one see James Frain as the champion of a young Natalie Porman who gives birth in a walmart.
Does any one remember the name of that movie?

Hans Holbein	Brandon Bulletin Board	Team Brandon Happy Birthday
Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk	The Tudors Historical Inaccuracies Season 3	The Tudors Season 4 SPOILERS
Favourite outfits of the Queens	Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex	Margaret More Roper
In my video Anne Boleyn didn't died!!!! :-)	The Tudors Future Dream Cast	The Tudors Dream Cast Seasons 3 & 4

James Frain

ABOUT JAMES FRAIN

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