One of those Frain has been hanging out with lately is Ian Hart, his co-star in the inflammatory Northern Ireland drama Nothing Personal. Although Hart won an award at last year's Venice Film Festival for his portrayal of a psychotic loyalist paramilitary, it is Frain's performance as the brutal but sympathetic squad leader Kenny that commands attention.

"Kenny's a man of action, and used to acting instinctively," explains Frain, less intimidating but equally verbose in the flesh. "But suddenly his life-long prejudices are confronted by the possibility that they're totally wrong. That makes the film personal, not political."

A compelling look at life on the frontline during a civil war, it's all a far cry from Frain's hometown of Bishops Stortford. "Home counties hell," he splutters. "It's just a place you leave, otherwise you have a f**king nightmare life."

Since leaving "hell" for drama school, Frain has notched up roles in Shadowlands, An Awfully Big Adventure and on TV in the costume romp The Buccaneers. He recently popped up as Ted Danson's bright-eyed assistant in Loch Ness, which could, he says graciously, "have been a lot cheesier."

After such a display of versatility, offers from abroad have not been short in coming. He already has a Tales From the Crypt episode in the can and recently shaved his head to play a Russian professor alongside Alan Rickman's mad monk Rasputin for an American TV movie.

"I spent hours perfecting this aristocratic Edwardian accent ~~ voice coach, the works," Frain recalls in a perfectly aristocratic Edwardian accent, "then arrived on set to find the producers wanting a Russian commoner. What can you do? I cobbled something together and winged it."