James Cromwell makes authority convincing with few words. We value the warmth in his restraint, particularly in Babe; the danger is that a film settles for his authority and gives him too little else to play.
Fi1m perspective
In Babe (1995), James Cromwell's Farmer Hoggett has little to say while the animals have plenty. His quietness gives their chatter room, but it also makes the farm feel worth caring about. We were moved by Hoggett's quiet warmth, which helps make the animals' troubles worth taking seriously. Chris Noonan earns the film's tenderness, and Cromwell helps by refusing to underline it. With Miriam Margolyes as Fly and Hugo Weaving as Rex supplying distinct temperaments, he need not compete for attention.
His breakthrough came with Babe, after television work in the 1970s and years of supporting parts in film and television. Dr Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) followed, then Captain Dudley Smith in L.A. Confidential (1997) and Warden Hal Moores in The Green Mile (1999). Science fiction, police work and prison administration supplied different surroundings for his authority. He is often the father or official whose position matters before we know much about him.
Under Jonathan Frakes, Star Trek: First Contact is tense and warmly played, with enough horror to make the danger felt. Its crowded supporting cast is one reservation, and it is a less useful starting point for Cromwell than Babe. Noonan gives his quietness a clear purpose: the farmer helps us accept the animals as creatures with temperaments, rather than a succession of comic voices. Dudley Smith draws on Cromwell's capacity to be commanding, but Hoggett shows how much his authority gains when there is affection in it.
The limitation is in the writing of those fathers and officials: they can have little to do beyond being obeyed. Cromwell is persuasive enough in such roles that a film may get away with asking little more of him. We would like more parts that give his characters the care Noonan gives Hoggett. Start with Babe, where there is pleasure in watching an actor leave the talking to others.
Biography
James Cromwell is an American actor. He trained at Carnegie Mellon University and began working in theatre and television in the 1970s, with early roles including a recurring part on All in the Family.
He is known for his performance as Farmer Hoggett in the 1995 film Babe, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Other notable film roles include L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile (1999) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He has also appeared in television series such as American Horror Story, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. Cromwell is a prominent animal rights activist and became vegan while filming Babe.
