James Frain

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.

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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Non-acting careers: Audio Books

Movies:
Water for Elephants (2012)
Transit (2011)
TRON:Legacy (2010
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 White Queen (2013)
The Cape (2011)
CSI: Miami (2010)
True Blood (2010)
Miami Medical (2010)
Flashforward (2009 -10)
CSI (2009)
Californication (2009)
Law & Order;SVU (2009)
Everybody's fine (2009)
Lie to me (2009)
Grey's Anatomy (2009)
In Plain Sight (2009)
The Tudors (2007-2009),
Law and Order 'Criminal Intent' (as Dean Holiday, 2008),
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: The White Queen (2013). Frain is set to play Lord Warwick (the father of Queen Anne, consort to Richard III and a great-uncle to Sir Thomas Parr, father of Queen Catherine Parr) in the BBC/STARZ series based on The Cousins War; a trilogy of historical fiction books on three influential women in The War of the Roses by Philippa Gregory. STARZ will be airing the series in August 2013 (US).

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 VIII 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 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

James has two children who have never seen his movies and he doesn't even tell them he is an actor

FAN SITES

About James Frain

Meet James Frain - Hungarian fansite

James Frain's fans on facebook

JAMES FRAIN PHOTOS


	"The White Queen" (2013)
The Cape	True Blood

At the premiere for Season 2	with Jonathan Rhys Meyers
promoting Season 3	with Joss Stone and JRM
with "the Pope", Peter O'Toole	Magazine - Da Suit
True Blood	The Cape
Chief magistrate J. F. Villefort in The Count of Monte Cristo	TRON, the Legacy
	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
James and his wife, actress Marta Cunningham Marta's head shot on IMDB
2010	2011
HBO Golden Globes party 2011	BAFTA party 2011
James Frain solo on the red carpet at last night's Life Out Loud Pride Cocktail Party 11 June 2011	James Frain and Marta Cunningham arriving at the Life Out Loud Pride Cocktail Party 11 June 2011

VIDEOS

	YouTube tribute video by elenarosca

GoldenAged.ER	Latest page update: made by GoldenAged.ER , May 15 2013, 10:21 PM EDT (about this update About This Update Upcoming projects - GoldenAged.ER 79 words added 9 words deleted view changes - complete history)
	Keyword tags: james frain jonathan rhys meyers Marta Cunningham showtime tudors the tudors Thomas Cromwell More Info: links to this page

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angelosdaughter

For James Frain Fans (page: 1 2 3)

Sep 26 2010, 3:13 AM EDT by Tudorlicious

Thread started: Aug 5 2009, 6:39 PM EDT Watch

Last night he did a guest shot on "In Plain Sight". I have always thought he was rather homely, but I did notice last night that he has amazing eyes. I imagine for those who did not get to see this episode, that the USA network will eventually rerun it.
Here is a site with the schedule for this episode for those who don't know about it. The site also tells where you can see it online. http://www.aboutjamesfrain.com/home.html

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Maggie-AnneB.

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

157

Mar 7 2010, 5:49 PM EST by freya9

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?

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freya9

Mistake

Feb 22 2010, 7:39 PM EST by scooter&buster

Thread started: Feb 12 2010, 7:28 PM EST Watch

In the Cromwell scene did anyone else think it didn't seem quite right that he was crying ? It was a very touching scene but as far as I am aware the real Cromwell didn't cry. (It reminded of the death scene from the series Henry VIII where Katherine Howard breaks down whereas she in reality she died bravely).

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RE: Crying
By: scooter&buster, Feb 22 2010, 7:39 PM EST

"As Scooter and Buster hs already stated, Thomas Cromwell died bravely. That scene has me in tears every time I see it. However, I do sometimes wish they'd been more honest and showed his stoicism instead of the emotional breakdown. It makes people think that Cromwell died a coward, and the reality is very different.
It reminds me of some foul historian who accused Cromwell of "whining for mercy" in his final letter to Henry. Thats not exactly what he was doing. Cromwell was tried in his absence, so never got a chance to defend himself. So when he was given the chance to write to Henry, giving his side of teh Cleves marraige debacle, Cromwell used that opportunity to answer the accusations made against him, and plead for clemency.
All of that makes Cromwell look a coward from the outside, when really he was very astute and brave, to the end."

I kinda disagree with you about the death scene in the series. Tears don't exactly equate cowardice. He was sad...of course. Afraid...surely. But, in the series they had his son front and center at his own father's execution. I think the series Cromwell was crying for his son and, yes, his situation.but, fought back the tears as best he could and in no way begged or pleaded for his life. And, like all good prisoners, he spoke well of the king. If one didnt do that, their family could suffer.

As for Crom's last letter to Henry...the one that crys 'mercy...mercy', I think it was Schofield that explained it best. I believe it was Schofield. Correct me if I'm wrong, Elliemental. Anyway, Cromwell was found guilty of treason and stripped of all his titles. As a commoner, once more, he was eligible to die by drawing and quartering...as is the sentence for treason. Cromwell knew he would die. He knew begging for mercy would not change that. The mercy he asked for was for his sentence to be communted to beheading.. That was the mercy Cromwell sought....to die a noble death.

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Showing 3 of 10 threads for this page - view all

Anne Boleyn - Historical Profile	Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex	Maria Doyle Kennedy
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	Ruta Gedmintas	Henry Cavill
FAN MUSIC Videos of the Tudors	The question of a sequel to the Tudors is answered	When do fictionalized facts matter ?
Edward Seymour	Thomas Seymour	Why Thomas Boleyn Survived

James Frain

ABOUT JAMES FRAIN

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