James Frain Joins Disney's The Lone Ranger

James Frain’s True Blood character Franklin Mott could probably be described as mentally unstable, to put it mildly. Sure, he came across as dark and alluring at first, as so many vampires do these days, but in the end, he proved to be as menacing as vampires were once more frequently portrayed, with a side of crazy for our entertainment. Since appearing in the HBO series, he’s gone on to take on a number of roles, including NBC’s short-lived superhero drama The Cape, and a part in Water For Elephants. And now it seems he’s set to improve the already strong cast of Disney’s The Lone Ranger.

The Hollywood Reporter posted the news, stating that the British actor has signed on to play the part of “a tough foreman overseeing Chinese and Indian rail workers who works for the story’s chief villain,” played by Tom Wilkinson. Should we expect another evil-crazy performance from him in this? Or just the standard variety villain employee? Frain joins Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter and Wilkinson in the Gore Verbinski-directed film.

Production is said to begin for The Lone Ranger in six weeks and may still be aiming for a May 31, 2013 release date. In the meantime, Frain is also credited for a role in Antonio Negret’s Transit, starring Jim Caviezel, as an action/thriller by Vicky Jewson called Born of War.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.