Entrevista con James Frain

James Frain made a big impression as Franklin Mott on True Blood this season … a big impression full of crazy, psychopathic, lovesick lunacy. He was so intense and so brilliant that he’s become a fan favorite and many mourned Franklin’s true death. We had an opportunity recently to ask Frain a few questions about his role as Tara’s unwanted suitor and about his other roles, getting to know a little better the awesome British actor behind Franklin Mott.

TB-N: You landed your first role in Shadowlands (1993) directed by Richard Attenborough, who discovered you when you were in your third year at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. What was it like to begin your career with such an important film? Did that role change your life in any way?

JF: I think I was the only guy on that set who didn’t have a knighthood. Lucky break is too small a term. Shadowlands gave me my career.

TB-N: And what a great start! In that film, you worked with Anthony Hopkins, portraying a taciturn student of the British writer C.S Lewis. You also starred with him again in the film Titus (1999). What was it like working with the talented Sir Anthony Hopkins?

JF: Hopkins is one of the greats; watching the intensity of his concentration up close was inspiring. On set he’s relaxed and fun, and he’s a brilliant mimic. He’s of the work-hard-but-don’t-take-yourself-too-seriously school, and that had a big influence on me.

TB-N: You are a popular face on TV, having appeared in shows like “The Closer,” “24,” “Invasion,” “Californication” … and especially “The Tudors.” What are your favorite TV shows? What’s the show you have enjoyed acting in the most?

JF: I enjoyed all of them in different ways, but ‘The Tudors’ stands out because it was my first experience of working on a character over several years. My all time favorite TV show? HBO’s ‘The Wire.’

TB-N: And it was in The Tudors where you portrayed for the first time a subject of a sanguinare King. You magnificently brought to life again to Sir Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s councilor. Did you enjoy being under Cromwell’s skin?

JF: I imagined how Cromwell might have seen himself; as a good man doing God’s work, and I was fascinated by the contradictions in his personality. I enjoyed putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and I appreciated how generous writer Michael Hirst was with his process.