Frain, 33, is currently on our television screens in the ambitious BBC1 adaptation of William Boyd's comic novel "Armadillo", the conclusion of which is screened tomorrow night. He has every reason to have relished this return to the BBC, having just spent more than 12 months filming his first big studio picture "Reindeer Games", with the legendary film director John Frankenheimer, and a gentle romantic drama, "Where The Heart Is". Frain says he did the former because "it might open some doors somewhere down the line", and the latter because " it had an incredible cast {Sally Field, Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman}, and it's about real people's lives." He adds that there was a bonus: "I got to snog Natalie."

Seven years ago, a casting director for the BBC recognized Frain's genius for playing the darkest literary heroes. Then, there he was, the repressed Duke de Trevenick in "The Buccaneers" and, most memorably of all, as Maggie Tulliver's disgraced lover Phillip Wakem, in "The Mill On The Floss". Frain can shortly be seen in Disney's re-make of "The Count of Monte Cristo", playing Villefort. one of the most fascinating literary villians of all times, with sexy, swashbuckling bravado.

But let's get one thing clear. None of these roles represents a career breakthrough for this hugely versatile actor. James Frain has enjoyed a prolific and successful career from the moment Lord Attenborough cast him in the role of the disaffected Oxford undergraduate in "Shadowlands" in 1993.

One moment he was struggling to pay his way through drama school, the next he found himself cast in three films, but without the hype that would launch Ewan Mcgregor's career some years later.

"After 'Four Weddings' and Trainspotting', young British actors suddenly had all these extraordinary opportunities which didn't seem to exist in the same way before. I have watched my contemporaries deal with enormous fame and sudden success. The pressures that come with that are hard."

One of the most interesting devices in "Armadillo" is how Frain's character, Lorimer Black, uses clothing to disquise his true intentions, a trait the actor relates to. "When I was a kid, I was a punk. I wouldn't spend more than 30 pence on an outfit. I had to go to jumble sales, I had to rip it up, I had to make it interesting and I was obsessed with the Sex Pistols. One year I was a punk and the next I was a mod; I was always dressing up as one thing or another."

"There are very detailed and intense descriptions in the novel 'Armadillo' about how people project their personality or their class or their identity through their clothes; it was a pleasure to read and it felt familiar. We had a lot of fun putting together different looks with the costume designer."

"We had a couple of Hackett suits made up with pink shirts and red polka dot ties, for when he wanted to come over a bit posh, but stupid. And there were these other times I had to deal with these dodgy builders. He gets to wear a sheepskin coat, only it's Versace sheepskin, so he appears slightly overdressed and very expensive, but kind of street."

Earlier Frain had made a passing comment about his teenage years in Leeds in the Eighties. "I hated everything that was happening in the country politically and materially. I was strongly oppossed to what was happening. The new writers at that time were very politically motivated and the theatre was very focused on those issues. Those were the elemnets that first attracted me to acting."

But instead of going seamlessly from school to university, Frain cultivated the romantic idea that he could educate himself while doing a very mundane job.

"I thought I could just earn money to live, but you don't have time to do anything because doing a menial job is exhausting and depressing."

At the same time, Frain knew that he wanted to become a writer or an actor, but he had no idea how to go about it. "It was more of a fantasy; I didn't realize it was a possibility. I wonder if that isn't different now because of this celebrity culture. Also everything has become insecure now, so it is not such a stupid idea to have a shot at that kind of a career."

Eventually, he gave up martyrdom and took up a place at the University of East Anglia.Frain's love of acting was evident and he was finally persuaded to audition for the Central School of Speech and Drama. He got in despite what he calls a "crap audition".

"It was pure indulgence because I had used up all my grant at university, so I really had to work to pay my way through drama school.I remember I was skint all the time. I would be doing great stuff during the day and then in the evenings I would wait on tables or work as an usher."

When Frain was in his final year, Lord Attenborough offered him the role in "Shadowlands". "I did the film and paid off all my debts in one go - boom. It was the last thing I expected."

Success followed, yet the conundrum remains. Just as James Frain is set to reach a wider audience, his next project will see him behind the camera.

"I did a play at the Royal Court called "Other People" by a young American writer called Christopher Shinn. It had a very short run and I thought it had a brilliant piece of writing, really powerful and compassionate. I decided to try and raise the money to make it into a film."

Cameras start rolling later this year. Judging by Frain's recent performances though, he might find it impossible to hide behind the director's chair.