Before House Of The Dragon, Criston Cole Actor Fabien Frankel Starred In A Classic Cop Drama Reboot
"House of the Dragon" pulled off the unimaginable by introducing one of the most detestable characters outside of the Lannisters, Hightowers, or Targaryens: Ser Criston Cole, played by Fabien Frankel. But before the English actor was causing a stir in one of the best shows streaming on HBO Max, he stomped the streets of New York in a classic cop drama reboot for ABC: "NYPD Blue."
The 2019 series was a continuation of the Emmy-award winning drama from 1993, with Frankel playing Theo Sipowicz, the son of Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), from the original show. The actor appeared in a pilot episode for the cop drama reboot, where Sipowicz was trying to become a detective like his father, but ABC chose not to give it the greenlight.
The decision came down to a "really high" bar, according to ABC's entertainment president at the time, Karey Burke. In 2019 she told TVLine: "We all felt like unless we can really advance the ball from the original let's let the original rest." It's a fair decision. Since the original "NYPD Blue" is regarded as one of the best police procedural shows of all time, it would be difficult to match up to its legacy. Regardless, Frankel had a unique time preparing for the pilot, despite it being a fleeting moment in his career.
Fabien Frankel worked with real police officers on a raid while preparing for NYPD Blue
The "NYPD Blue" pilot's chances were seemingly high enough to warrant Fabien Frankel getting some hands-on experience with law enforcement in preparation for the role. When appearing on the Today show to discuss a pivotal moment in "House of the Dragon" Season 3, Episode 6, Frankel said that he went along to see a raid in the Bronx.
"I don't know if, nowadays, you could get away with the stuff that we were allowed to do," he recalled. "We were going on, like, four in the morning ride-alongs. We weren't allowed to know where we were going, put in a windowless van, picked up, taken somewhere, and got to a house raid. Like 50 cops raided a house."
Frankel added that he made an "embarrassing" outfit choice for the raid by wearing a trench coat. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the officers he was with nicknamed him "Inspector Frankel." Hopefully, that nickname has disappeared following his performance as Criston Cole in "House of the Dragon," which has only become more intense with each season.