James Cromwell made a surprise appearance in the penultimate episode of Succession, and in those few short minutes, Cromwell effortlessly delivered a powerhouse performance that easily stood toe-to-toe with Kieran Culkin‘s Emmy-worthy breakdown. Heck, it fueled it.
While Cromwell’s presence this season has been practically non-existent, he has appeared more frequently in the past as Ewan Roy, the environmentalist brother of Brian Cox’s Logan Roy. (Ewan is also the grandfather of Greg, who he’s basically disinherited.) It’s that familial connection that brought Ewan back into the fold as he shoved off the protests of the Roy siblings and took the podium at Logan’s funeral to deliver a barn-burner of a speech.
Ewan’s eulogy was so powerful that it reduced the previously confident Roman Roy to a weeping mess who couldn’t even say the first line of his own eulogy before falling apart in front of the entire cathedral. It was a knockout performance by Cromwell, who has immediately capitalized on the buzz to pressure studios to meet the demands of the writers’ strike.
“I got to a give a brilliant speech recently, which not only explicated my and my brother’s characters, it illuminated an entire narrative,” Cromwell tweeted. “This is what great writers do. And they need to be compensated in accordance with their contribution. At the very least, they need to be able to provide for themselves and their families.”
“In this era of corporate greed and union busting, management seems to hold all the cards,” the veteran actor wrote. “Except for the most important ones: Unity; Solidarity; Fraternity. All of us win when the writers win. And we will win. Union! Strike!”
It begins with the words.
Nothing happens without them. Sometimes, the writing achieves transcendence, but, in every case, it’s seminal. I got to a give a brilliant speech recently, which not only explicated my and my brother’s characters, it illuminated an entire narrative. 1/3— James Cromwell
(@jamesocromwell) May 22, 2023
In this era of corporate greed and union busting, management seems to hold all the cards. Except for the most important ones: Unity; Solidarity; Fraternity. All of us win when the writers win. And we will win. Union! Strike! #wgastrike #UnionStrong #Succession @jessearmstrong1
— James Cromwell
Of course, Cromwell is no stranger to activism. Last year, he super-glued his hand to a Starbucks counter to protest the “greedy” company for allegedly over-charging customers for vegan milk. While Cromwell has yet to adhere himself to any surfaces for the writers’ strike, one can only hope that he’ll duct tape himself to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. It could happen.