Spotlight: James Frain

Now I don’t know how much of a Natalie Portman fan you are but a few years ago you could not turn on the TV without half the channels bombarding you with her latest film, Where the Heart Is. It features Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd and Stockard Channing (so basically the trifecta of chick flick stars.) It also includes a quiet, unassuming man as Natalie Portman’s love interest. Though by no means the star of the film, he brings a quiet controlled, slightly disturbed presence to the film, both endearing him to you immediately and making you think that there might be something just a tad off about ol’ Forney.

So, he didn’t do much for me right off the bat. Good actor but I haven’t really seen heads or tails of him since then. Then, like a lightning bolt from the sky, here comes a little show called True Blood and I, like the rest of the country, am entranced. Alright, maybe my attention is waning a bit towards the end (I mean, fairies? What now?) but then they pull out the big guns and here comes charmingly schizophrenic, murderous Franklin and he is instantly my favorite character.

So today I’m doing a little perusing of Hulu and I decide to give NBC’s The Cape a chance. I find myself strangely drawn to the debonair British billionaire moonlighting as the masked villain, Chess. But wait! Who’s this? I’ve seen this face before. Turns out it's none other than both Franklin and Fourney. A brief perusal of IMDB later and turns out, if you’re watching TV, you’re watching James Frain.

Frain was first spotted by Sir Richard Attenborough (Planet Earth? Anyone?) while studying acting in London and was immediately cast alongside Anthony Hopkins in Shadowlands (1993). So, I’m not really sure where you go after a David Attenborough, Anthony Hopkins vehicle but….. Since then, he has been steadily working, appearing in everything from Californication to Law and Order, and CSI to Tales from the Crypt (a personal favorite.) Ever the chameleon, he has also starred in a number of movies, including the Count of Monte Cristo with Guy Pearce and James Caviezel and, that legend of cinema, Into the Blue. However, most will likely recognize him from his roles in The Tudors from 2007 to 2009 and most recently, last year’s Tron: Legacy. 

So what’s up next for this versatile actor? Well, if you can tear your eyes away from Robert Pattinson for the briefest of moments, Frain will be starring as Rosie’s caretaker in Water for Elephants, the most pachyderm centric movie since Dumbo.  Whether he’s starring as a deranged murderer, sneaking into your mother’s prime time crime dramas, or just lounging in a chick flick, he’s definitely one to keep an eye out for.