Biography
Actor James Frain was a quintessential chameleon. Regardless of the role he portrayed - whether it was a sinister Spaniard in "Elizabeth" (1998), a classical pianist in "Hilary and Jackie" (1998), or a soft-spoken librarian in "Where the Heart Is" (2000) - Frain always extracted hidden layers of his characters' emotions and brought them to the forefront. Frain also delivered strong performances on the action drama "24" (Fox, 2001-2010) as well …
Career Milestones
2002 | Acted on stage in London in "King Lear" | |
2002 | Co-starred in the remake of "The Count of Monte Cristo" | |
2000 | Returned to London stage as a gay man in "Other People" | |
2000 | Cast an a American who befriends a fellow prisoner (Ben Affleck) in John Frankenheimer's drama "Reindeer Games" | |
1999 | Portrayed Ralph Fiennes' brother in "Sunshine"; released in USA in 2000 | |
1999 | Appeared as Bassanius in Julie Taymor's "Titus" | |
1999 | Portrayed the legendary French filmmaker in the biopic "Vigo - Passion for Life" | |
1998 | Reteamed with Watson, playing Argentine pianist Daniel Barenbohm to her cellist Jacqueline Du Pre in the biopic "Hilary and Jackie" | |
1998 | Delivered a fine turn as the ambiguous Spanish ambassador to the Tudor court in "Elizabeth" | |
1997 | Initial screen teaming with Emily Watson in "The Mill on the Floss"; played Philip Wakem, the childhood sweetheart of Watson's Maggie Tulliver; aired in the USA on PBS' "Mobil Masterpiece Theatre" | |
1996 | Played the leading Russian assassin in the acclaimed HBO movie "Rasputin" | |
1995 | Breakthrough TV role as an abusive aristocrat in the series "The Buccaneers" (aired on PBS in the USA) | |
1995 | Played a single-minded leader of a paramilitary group of Protestants in Northern Island in "Nothing Personal" | |
1993 | Early TV credit as a "rent boy" in "Prime Suspect 3" (aired on PBS in the USA) | |
1993 | Feature acting debut as Peter Whistler, an Oxford student who clashes with C S Lewis (Anthony Hopkins), in "Shadowlands" | |
1993 | Just before graduating from drama school, was cast in first film role | |
1990 | Accepted at Central School of Speech and Drama | |
| After secondary school, worked odd jobs and traveled before enrolling as a theater student at the University of East Anglia in 1987 | ||
| Began writing, directing and acting in amateur productions as a teenager | ||
| As a child, decided to be an actor | ||
| Raised in Essex | ||