Broadway BUZZ

(Fran Kranz, photo by Riker Brothers) Fran Kranz made his Broadway debut in director Mike Nichols’ Death of a Salesman, opposite Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield, which won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. He also starred on Broadway opposite Rose Byrne and James Earl Jones in the much-praised revival of You Can’t Take It With You. Off-Broadway, Fran starred as ‘Merle Debuskey’ in the world premiere of Illyria, written and directed by Richard Nelson, at the Public Theater as well as starred in the critically acclaimed Bachelorette, written by Leslye Headland and directed by Trip Cullman, at the Second Stage Theatre Off-Broadway. His feature credits include The Dark Tower, opposite Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, Murder of a Cat, opposite J.K. Simmons and Greg Kinnear, Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, The Cabin in the Woods, directed by Drew Goddard and produced by Whedon, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men, The TV Set, Bloodsucking Bastards, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, Orange County, Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day and Donnie Darko. On television, Kranz will next be seen in a recurring role in Season 3 of the Apple TV+ series Invasion. Prior to that, Kranz starred as Russ Morash in the HBO Max series Julia, created by Chris Keyser and starring Sarah Lancashire as Julia Child. He recurred in Showtime’s Roger Ailes series The Loudest Voice, starring Russell Crowe, and Amazon’s Homecoming, created by Sam Esmail and starring Julia Roberts. Kranz is also well-known for playing the role of Topher, on Joss Whedon’s FOX sci-fi series Dollhouse alongside Eliza Dushku. In 2021, Kranz turned his creative attention to writing and directing, with his debut feature Mass premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Starring Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd and Reed Birney, Mass was released by Bleecker Street Films in October 2021. It was nominated for Best Screenplay and won the Robert Altman Award at the 2022 Independent Spirit Awards. Previously, Kranz produced and starred opposite Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, and Finn Wittrock in an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which premiered at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival.