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James Frain (born March 14, 1968) is an English stage and screen actor. He is possibly best known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007 to 2009.

Frain was born in Leeds, Yorkshire and raised in Hertfordshire, the eldest of eight children.^[1] 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 István Szabó's Sunshine (1999). He has been a regular on the stage in the UK 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 2007 Drama Desk Critics Award for Best Ensemble along with the rest of the cast of The Homecoming (2007). He recently appeared in the television series 24 (2005), Invasion (2006) and The Closer (2006) and played the ill-fated Thomas Cromwell in the Showtime series The Tudors

Filmography

• Shadowlands (1993) - Peter Whistler
• "Prime Suspect" (series 3) (1993) (mini) - Jason Baldwin
• The Buccaneers (1995) (mini) TV Series – Julius Folyat, The Duke of Trevenick
• Nothing Personal (1995) – Kenny
• Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996) – Prince Felix Yusupov
• Loch Ness (1996) – Adrian Foote
• Elizabeth (1998) – Spanish Ambassador Alvaro de la Quadra
• Hilary and Jackie (1998) – Daniel Barenboim
• What Rats Won't Do (1998) – Jack Sullivan
• Titus (1999) – Bassianus
• Arabian Nights (TV miniseries) (2000) – Schahzenan / Harun al-Rashid
• Where the Heart Is (2000) – Forney Hull
• Reindeer Games (2000) – Nick
• Armadillo (2001) – Lorimer Black
• The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) – J. F. Villefort
• Leonardo (2003) (TV) – Cesare Borgia
• Spartacus (TV film) (2004) - David
• Empire (2005) – Marcus Junius Brutus
• 24 (2005) – Paul Raines
• Into the Blue (2005) – Reyes
• Invasion (2006) – Eli Szura
• "The Closer"(TV Series) (2006) - Paul Andrews
• The Tudors (2007-2009) – Thomas Cromwell
• Law and Order: Criminal Intent "Vanishing Act" (2008) – Dean Holiday
• "Fringe" "Safe" (2008) - Salmon Kohl
• "In Plain Sight" "Once a Ponzi Time" (2009) - Philip Ashmore/Roy Murray
• "Grey's Anatomy" (tv series) "I Always Feel Like Someone Is Watchin' Me" (2009) - Tom
• "Lie to Me" (TV series) "Grievous Bodily Harm" (2009) - Lance McClellan
• "Law & Order: SVU" (TV series) "Users" (2009) - Martin Gold
• "Everybody's Fine" (2009) - Tom
• "Crusades" (TV film) (2009) - Sir Gregory
• "Californication" (TV series) "Mia Culpa" (2009) - Paul
• "Tron: Legacy" (film) (aka "TR2N", "Tron 2.0") (2010) - Jarvis
• "True Blood" (TV series) (2010) - Franklin Mott^[2]

References

Further reading

• Staff writer (13 November 2008). "Is James the New Doctor Who?, Herts and Essex Observer, Herts & Essex Newspapers. Retrieved on 13 November 2008.

External links

• James Frain at the Internet Movie Database
• Official The Homecoming on Broadway website
• Interview