James Frain

“Characters who have some kind of free rein on their darker selves are always fun because they've taken the license off. You just get to fill out all the colors.”

“Forney in 'Where the Heart Is' has more fans than any other character I've played.”

“'X-Files' wasn't a big show in England.”

“'The Cape' is a really good comic! They invented the whole character, and now they've built a book of 'The Cape' for the show. When I was a kid, I used to love Batman, and I loved Spider-Man. My favorite was this guy called Judge Dredd. I know they made a movie of that in the '90s.”

“'The Buccaneers' was an Edith Wharton novel, and she never finished it, and a screenwriter adapted it for television.”

“I was watching the last season of 'Mad Men,' and they're now so in their characters and they're so comfortable in their characters, and they're doing such good work. That can only happen from doing it over and over, and developing a character over seven years.”

“Now it's all about the word of mouth, and watching a series on Netflix. That's the way people actually consume this stuff now, instead of waiting for a DVD release you're not really sure you want to buy. And I think it's fantastic, because then I can watch the shows that I missed, over a weekend. I love doing that.”

“The acting in 'Downton Abbey' has been consistently excellent across the board.”

“Sometimes it's fun to be the guy who doesn't know that he's bad, like the character I played in 'True Blood'.”

“I've got this thing where I think great shows have great credit sequences. I don't know why that is, exactly.”

“As movies and TV projects come up, they go out to the agents, and we just go out and audition for them.”

“Cable series have more time to focus on characters, and a structure that allows for a development in character as you go along. Network shows have a pressure of time and space that is completely different.”

“The problem with trying to make a film good and have it work for an audience is the problem of trying to tell a story well. The shape or the color of it doesn't matter.”

“I don't keep a record of the parts I've played, and I don't compare characters, but maybe I should? I could construct a graphic that grades badness and madness levels? Interesting idea.”

“Bruges is a beautiful medieval city almost untouched by time. If you like jazz, you will be well catered for. If you like chocolate and beer, you will be in heaven.”