Fabien Frankel’s time on House of the Dragon has sadly come to an end, but he’s been gifting fans plenty of exciting new content following his departure. After Criston Cole’s death in episode 6, Frankel has been doing a wave of press appearances to reflect on his time on the show and the journey he’s been on since joining the cast.
Of course, in addition to discussing his time on the show, Frankel has been gifting fans with some amazing stories about his life and career. During a recent appearance on TODAY, Frankel reflected on what would have been his first breakout role years prior to House of the Dragon – a role that might surprise many.
Before landing the role of Ser Criston Cole, Frankel was cast in ABC’s reboot of the hit procedural NYPD Blue. He was set to play the son of Dennis Franz’s NYPD Blue character, who had followed in his father’s footsteps to become an officer in the NYPD. Sadly, ABC opted not to pick up the series, but the experience of shooting the pilot episode is one that has stuck with Frankel.
“I shot a pilot; they were remaking NYPD Blue. I was playing Dennis Franz’s son, and I lived in Brooklyn, in Williamsburg, for six weeks. I trained with the NYPD. I don’t know if nowadays you could get away with the stuff we were allowed to do, but we were going on 4 a.m. in the morning ride-alongs,” Frankel recalled of his role in ABC’s NYPD Blue reboot.
While it’s certainly not surprising to hear that the network had arranged for Frankel and other members of the cast to participate in ride-alongs, it was truly shocking to hear about the experience Frankel encountered while preparing for the role. Rather than simply being taken along for a calm ride-along during a patrol shift, Frankel revealed that they were thrust into an intense experience that culminated in a major raid operation.
“We weren’t allowed to know where we were going, [we were] put in a windowless van, picked up, taken somewhere, and got to arrive to, like, a house raid. Like 50 cops raided a house, and I was like six feet away from a full 'Get on the floor!’ situation,” Frankel revealed.
He’s certainly not wrong that something like this would likely not fly in Hollywood today, and for good reason. It’s honestly quite surprising that ABC actually allowed Frankel and the cast to ride-along with NYPD officers to a raid and be so close to the action. That’s something that certainly would have helped inform their work on the show playing NYPD officers, but it’s wild to think of the stars of a series being thrust into such a precarious situation.
Despite the work ABC put into preparing its cast and shooting the pilot, the NYPD Blue reboot did not end up going to series, which likely was for the best. Had the show been picked up to series, Frankel likely would have never gotten the opportunity to take on one of the greatest villains in the Game of Thrones universe and make his mark on the franchise in House of the Dragon. And his ride-along training did not go to waste.
While ABC did not end up ordering the NYPD Blue reboot to series, the experience clearly stuck with Frankel, and we imagine it helped inform his role as Detective Anthony Grasso on HBO’s Emmy-nominated series Task. The series certainly put Frankel’s character in some intense positions, and we’re sure he tapped into his knowledge of police work from his ride-alongs with the NYPD to help craft his performance, which was definitely a standout in the series!
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