James Cromwell Has Played More Star Trek Characters Than You Likely Realize

The one role in the Star Trek franchise with which fans are most likely to associate actor James Cromwell is that of warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane in the 1996 film "Star Trek: First Contact." He also reprised this character in the pilot episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise" and the Season 3 premiere of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" in August of 2022. However, before his debut as Cochrane, Cromwell was a Star Trek veteran, with three prior, unrelated roles already under his belt.

First, Cromwell joined the franchise in 1990 as Angosian Prime Minster Nayrok in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 3, Episode 11. Three years later, Cromwell returned to "TNG" for Season 6, Episodes 16 and 17. He plays a character named Jaglom Shrek — predating the 2001 "Shrek" film but following the 1990 publication of its literary source material. Finally, he's a Karemman diplomat named Hanok in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Season 4, Episode 6.

In an interview published on the official Star Trek website, Cromwell shared that Star Trek is even something of a family tradition. His ex-wife Julie Cobb, he explained, appeared in "The Original Series," whereas her daughter Rosemary Morgan showed up in "Star Trek: Voyager." Cromwell, meanwhile, recounted having a hard time keeping track of each of his individual Star Trek appearances. "I enjoyed my experiences," he said. "But I have to be honest and tell you they were a long time ago and they've kind of blurred together."

The fact that James Cromwell was never quite a leading man in Star Trek but impacted the franchise through repeated appearances is somewhat reflective of his career as a whole. In total, his filmography consists of more than 190 credits in movies and on TV, many of which are parts as secondary or tertiary characters in well-known projects.

Much of his early work consists of brief appearances on popular shows like "The Rockford Files," "M*A*S*H," "Night Court," and "Matlock," starting in the '70s and continuing through the '90s. He then earned his first and only Oscar nomination in the 1996 best supporting actor category for the role of Babe's (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh) owner, Arthur Hoggett, in the 1995 "Babe" movie. Other notable films he's worked on include "L.A. Confidential," "The Green Mile," and "The Queen."

His first Emmy nomination, notably, came in 2000 for a role in a TV movie titled "RKO 281." After that, he earned guest actor nominations in 2001 and 2003 for "ER" and "Six Feet Under," respectively. He finally won a supporting actor in a miniseries or movie Emmy in 2013 for his "American Horror Story" Season 2 role. Finally, he was nominated in 2020, 2022, and 2023 for his portrayal of Cousin Greg's (Nicholas Braun) grandfather Ewan Roy on "Succession." TV, then, is arguably his principal medium, so his repeated appearances on Star Trek TV shows are effectively par for the course.