Hollywood actor James Cromwell calls for end to war in Iraq during visit to York

7:15am Friday 19th October 2007

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A Hollywood actor brought a sprinkling of stardust - and a political message - to York's Theatre Royal.

James Cromwell, who has starred in hit movies such as Babe, LA Confidential and The Queen, is in the city this week, visiting his close friend Donald Freed, York Theatre Royal's playwright in residence.

But his break has turned into a working holiday because he's been drafted in to take part in Mr Freed's theatre master classes.

Speaking to The Press at the Theatre Royal yesterday, he hit out at the war in Iraq and branded it "disgraceful".

Mr Cromwell said: "I'm here visiting Donald and his wife, but I've been impressed into service because I'm working on a play with Donald called The Einstein Plan, which we hope to put on in New York."

He said he hoped the project would help to "increase the political footprint of political theatre" both in the UK and America.

On Wednesday night he took part in the first of Mr Freed's six master classes.

"The Politics of Theatre and the Theatre of Politics", at the University of York, had been billed as a question and answer session with Mr Freed and Professor Mary Luckhurst - so students had a surprise when they came face-to-face with the Hollywood star.

Mr Cromwell said he hoped The Einstein Plan would help bring about a "resurgence in political theatre" in America and have an impact on the current political climate.

He said: "We hope to be effective in changing some of the politics that are occurring in America which have led to this disgraceful war in the Middle East and it wouldn't hurt if we helped change some of the attitudes in England as well.

"We hope artists will express themselves more forcefully in the political situation in America. We as artists have a responsibility to speak out because the responsibility of art is to get to the truth."

Mr Freed's play Patient No.1 will be staged in York early next year and will be followed by The Einstein Plan,which he said would be shown in "New York and old York". The Einstein Plan will run in America at the same time as the build up to the next presidential election.

Some of James Cromwell's most memorable roles

• Farmer Arthur Hoggett in Babe in 1995, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award
• Captain Dudley Liam Smith in L.A. Confidential in 1997
• Dr Zefroam Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact in 1996
• The general in The General's Daughter in 1999, alongside John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe
• George Sibley in the last two seasons of the TV drama series Six Feet Under
• Prince Philip in the Oscar-winning The Queen
• Phillip Bauer, father to main character Jack (Kiefer Sutherland), in the sixth season of 24
• Inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics in I, Robot
• The warden in the remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler