James Frain

Trivia

• In 2000, James was nominated for a Genie Award (Best performance by an actor in a supporting role) for his role in Sunshine.
• He has a certificate in stagefighting and in early 2002, during his run in King Lear he and Tom Hollander (as Edmund and Edgar) got to do some regular certified stagefighting with swords.
• Before he decided to start acting, Frain had many low-paying "behind the scenes" jobs.
• Most of Frain's siblings have artistic jobs including a photographer and graphic artist.
• Frain still owns a stereo he bought with the money he made in his early years of acting on Shadowlands.
• James Frain has the same birthday as Michael Caine, Taylor Hanson, Mercedes McNab, Kylie Tyndall and Keaton Tyndall, Quincy Jones, and Chris Klein.
• His first actual appearance on television was in 2004 mini-series Pilot Season.
• James went into the audition for Shadowlands without finishing drama school. He had no idea he would win the role.
• James said the role he would like to play the most is Hamlet.
• In an interview he said his favorite co-star he has worked with is Doraly Rosen and his favorite director he has worked with is Howard Davie.

Quotes

• "Film is about the spontaneous and natural moment. It should be the same in theatre but it's not."
• "The horrid bad guy, of course...Oh no! Have I blown it."
• "It was a big Disney film we were shooting in Malta. Richard Harris was doing all the miserable stuff inside a prison, and I was doing all the fun stuff."
• "It's sort of ridiculous to compare the two because they're so different. But I do prefer film. Film is about the spontaneous and natural moment. It should be the same in theater but it's not. Also, and I know this is opposite to what many people say, I think film is the actor's medium and theater is the director's. On stage, the director chooses what play is done and then determines the style and tone of the performance - it's all about the director's vision. With film, that's not so much the c
• "I'd swap places with Richard Burbage or someone else in Shakespeare's original company so I could play all those wonderful parts for the first time."
• "Jonathan and Ian have managed to create a real sense of event around going to the theater - you always feel that something original and different will happen when you see something at the Almeida. That's because they are completely fearless and bold in both the things - either new plays or classics - and the people they choose to work with. They take risks and are always pushing in every direction. Their ambition is endless. I think it's also telling that they've now decided to leave. They reco
• "Most actors I would guess are playing the celebrity game to get access to work he says. Certainly no one I know is into fame, because then it becomes a dangerous game, a Faustian pact. I mean even doing interviews, I never used to think about that when I used to imagine being an actor."