James Cromwell

James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwellis an American actor and producer. Some of his more notable films include Babe, Star Trek: First Contact, L.A. Confidential, The Green Mile, Space Cowboys, The Sum of All Fears, I, Robot, and The Artist, as well as the television series Six Feet Under, 24, American Horror Story: Asylum, and Halt and Catch Fire...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth27 January 1940
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I don't study films particularly. I plan to direct, but I'm not watching film - I watch the entire film to see how the story goes, but I don't say, 'Oh, so he does a slow pan here, or he pulls here, watch the crane shot, or look at the composition,' because it's got to be my eye.
I was told by my agent that a number of big stars won't work with anyone two inches taller than them and most of them are under six feet, so you have to be prepared to have trouble.
I can't say I enjoy all TV ... I'm enjoying 'Six Feet' because I think it's beautifully written, and wonderfully acted and beautifully produced. I enjoy the odd piece of television,
Television goes into people's homes, and it reaches them on a very personal level. When you're sitting in your home after a day's work, and you've chosen to watch a show like 'ER,' you're very vulnerable. ... It's a very provocative and engaging and deeply thoughtful show.
It's our children and our children's children who will be affected by this technology, and it is up to us to stop it. I hope you will join us.
It's wonderful because you get all this heat, ... Everybody says, 'Why, is it going to open? Is it going to be good? Are there bad parts in it?' And now they're all talking, so that's wonderful.
My first films were comedy, 'Murder By Death,' and 'The Cheap Detective.' But now they won't think of me as a comedian. Now, they think of me as a bad guy, and I can't do comedy.
I drove through the stockyards of Texas on a motorcycle. It doesn't let you escape what surrounds you and what it smells like and feels like - and what hit me was the realization that something that was alive and had feelings will suffer before a piece of it is placed on our plates.
During the run up to the Iraq War, Mike Farrell and I did get on television kind of frequently, but then they saw that that didn't work. They really couldn't bait us into being stupid, so they stopped. You know the mainstream media, corporate media, avoids ever giving anyone who has anything to say a platform, if they can possibly help it.
The Academy Awards were basically created by the industry to promote pictures. They weren't really to acknowledge the performances. Then it became sort of this a great popularity contest and now, it's an incredible show and it's seen all over the world.
'Barney Miller' was a lot of fun. I'm very fond of Abe Vigoda. Most - a lot of people on that cast - I really liked.
I was going to design sports cars, but my father came to my college to visit me. At the time he was making a picture in Sweden and he took me there with him. I got to see Ingmar Bergman's company and I thought, 'Gee, filmmaking is a lot more fun than sports cars,' so I decided to follow him and go into acting.
A vital film that needed to be made at this point in history and has been made magnificently.
Pigs may not be as cuddly as kittens or puppies, but they suffer just as much.