January 2, 2007

Character Actor Countdown #7: James Cromwell

Character actor countdown continues after a bit of a holiday (and ailment) delay.

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7.

James Cromwell.

It took me awhile to stop associating the tall actor with the early TV comedy appearances that were my introduction to him (Hill Street Blues, Family Ties, and God help us, Diff'rent Strokes) and small roles in mediocre moves. Later, he'd appear in several Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes (as Jaglom Shrek, and once as a Prime Minister), as well as one of the STTNG movies (First Contact), and later on as George in Six Feet Under. But it wasn't until he played Farmer Hoggett in the hugely popular Babe that Cromwell himself became more popular in respectable films. Cromwell was Charles Keating (for whom he's a dead ringer) in The People vs. Larry Flynt, and would appear as generals (General's Daughter), judges (Snow Falling on Cedars), corrupt police captains (L.A. Confidential), wardens (The Green Mile, The Longest Yard), as William Randolph Hearst (RKO 281), a Senator (the bizarro Species II), and an ex-President (The West Wing's D. Wire Newman in one episode).

But it wasn't until this past year that Cromwell played a prince - Prince Philip to be precise - in Stephen Frears' excellent The Queen. He certainly doesn't make him the most likable of royalty, but it's a fair portrayal of a traditional man at a loss as times change, and he makes a good match with Helen Mirren. She'll get the awards, and deservedly so, but Cromwell's presence is crucial to the film's creation of the royal family's dynamics. Look for him soon as a young Jane Austen's father in Becoming Jane, and in Spider-Man 3, in which he'll presumably play a warden, general, judge, father or police captain.

Posted by cphillips at January 2, 2007 11:19 PM
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