Star File

James Cromwell

James Cromwell earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Farmer Hoggett in the international smash Babe, reprising his role in the hit sequel, Babe: Pig in the City. In 2018, he appeared notably in the Steven Spielberg/Universal blockbuster Jurassic World: Ancient Futures. He was seen opposite Meryl Streep in The Laundromat for Steven Soderbergh, and will next star in the period drama Emperor alongside Bruce Dern and Ben Robson. Cromwell was on screen in 2017 in The Promise alongside Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale, and Marshall alongside Chadwick Boseman and Sterling K. Brown. Earlier film work includes the Academy Award-winning The Artist, football dramedy The Longest Yard opposite Adam Sandler, I, Robot alongside Will Smith, Oscar-nominated features The Green Mile (Frank Darabont), The Queen (Stephen Frears), Secretariat (Gary Ross), Spiderman III (Sam Raimi), and LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson) among many others. For his starring role opposite Genevieve Bujold in the Samuel Goldwyn film Still Mine (Toronto Film Festival Premiere/ Top Ten Canadian Films of 2012), James won the Best Actor Award at the 2013 Canadian Film Awards, a Genie Award, and the Best Actor Award at the Seattle International Film Festival. Cromwell won a 2013 Emmy Award for his turn opposite Jessica Lange and Lily Rabe on American Horror Story: Asylum and currently recurs on HBO’s Succession opposite Brian Cox. Last year he appeared in two season-long arcs concurrently on Epix’s Berlin Station opposite Richard Jenkins and on Starz’ Counterpart opposite JK Simmons. He earlier starred opposite Lee Pace on AMC’s Halt & Catch Fire, starred in the HBO miniseries “The Young Pope” opposite Jude Law and Diane Keaton, and appeared in a multi-season arc on the TBS comedy “The Detour” playing Jason Jones’ mysterious, wily father-in-law. Previously James played erudite defense attorney Warren Daniels on the TNT/Steven Bochco series Murder in the First, Andrew Mellon on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, starred on the ABC series Betrayal as millionaire industrialist Thatcher Karsten, and portrayed Phillip Bauer on the Fox hit 24. He earned multiple Emmy Award nominations for his work on the HBO original series Six Feet Under, the HBO movie RKO 281, and the NBC drama ER. James’ body of work encompasses dozens of miniseries and MOWs, including TNT's A Slight Case of Murder, HBO's Angels in America, West Wing, Picket Fences, Home Improvement, L.A. Law and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Cromwell has made innumerable stage appearances, including the Centennial CTG/Los Angeles production of Waiting for Godot, and productions of Hamlet, The Iceman Cometh, Devil's Disciple, All's Well That Ends Well, Beckett and Othello, in many of the country's most distinguished theatres, including the South Coast Repertory, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Shakespeare Festival, Center Stage, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Old Globe. He played A. E. Houseman in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love at A.C.T. in San Francisco and in fall 2014, he played ‘Rupert Murdoch’ in David Williamson’s controversial play Rupert at Theatre Royal in Sydney, Australia. Cromwell has directed at resident theatres across the country and was Founder and artistic director of his own company, Stage West, in Springfield, Mass. Born in Los Angeles, Cromwell grew up in New York and Waterford, Connecticut, and studied at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech). His father, John Cromwell, an acclaimed actor and director, was one of the first presidents of the Screen Directors Guild. His mother, Kay Johnson, was a stage and film actress.