James Frain

James Dominic Frain (born 14 March 1968) is an English stage and screen actor. His best known roles include those of Thomas Cromwell in the TV series The Tudors (2007–09), vampire Franklin Mott in season three of the HBO drama True Blood, as Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, in the BBC drama serial The White Queen (2013), as Ferdinand in Orphan Black (2015) and as Theo Galavan/Azrael in Season 2 of Gotham. Frain played leading roles in the BBC dramas Armadillo (2001), The Buccaneers (1995) and The Mill on the Floss (1997) and the films Hilary and Jackie (1998) and Elizabeth (1998). He also appeared as Chief Magistrate Gérard de Villefort in The Count of Monte Cristo and Bassianus in Titus. 2Early life Frain was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and brought up in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, the eldest of eight children of a teacher mother and a stockbroker father. 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. 2Career While in his final year of drama school, he made his film debut in Shadowlands (1993) after being spotted by Richard Attenborough. 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 film, 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 United Kingdom, 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 2008 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performances along with the rest of the cast of The Homecoming (2007