Image Credit: Albert L. Ortega/PR Photos; Paul Drinkwater/NBCGoodbye Franklin Mott from True Blood, hello super-villain on The Cape! EW talked to James Frain on a red carpet recently and the English actor had pretty encouraging things to say about NBC’s upcoming drama involving a cop (Eat Pray Love’s David Lyons) who makes himself into a masked hero after being framed for a crime. NBC has yet to schedule the drama, which is slated for a midseason release.
“It’s a superhero show and I play the supervillain,” Frain told EW. “It’s not that big a stretch. No one has any real powers. It’s about cunning and skill. It’s very serious in its intent. But it’s also light in the way it’s played. It is closer to Batman in that the people don’t have powers. Supervillain equals job security as long as people like the show and we get picked up.”
Frain plays Peter Fleming in the drama that also stars Summer Glau and Keith David. “It is a completely new story. It is not based on a comic book or an old character. It is a completely new and inventive mythology. The show creator Tom Wheeler has the whole first season mapped out. He has the whole thing in his mind and he is slowly revealing it to us. And it’s cool. I really hope people will give it a chance to reveal itself to them. We are in the thick of shooting and we are supposed to come on in January. Wish us luck.”
Alas, Frain says he still mourns the passing of Franklin in the addictive HBO drama. “He’s done. Dead. Gone. Once they goo you, there’s no coming back from that. Goo equals gone. I can’t tell you how many more doubletakes I get since doing that character. He was such a great character and he was the most fun to play ever but I think part of what made it so fun is that it was such a contained ride. When you’ve got someone that psycho, where is he going to go next? There’s something cool about the fact that it was like a hit and run. But I do miss him. I have started to collect memorable death scenes.” – With reporting from Carrie Bell
