After I saw him play Prince Phillip in 'The Queen,' I too wondered if he was really British. He does do an English accent very well. I've read that he has a share of English, Scottish and Irish in his ancestry.

and because of his name,which is straight-up British.
As an American with an English surname, I find these comments downright strange. What kind of name is an American
supposed
to have?

I always thought he was a a New Zealander or Australian. I was pretty much 100% certain until I came here. My mind is blown.
That is the single best Australian accent I've ever heard from an American. Like, it was impeccable. The fact that I - as an Australian - couldn't tell it was put on is astounding.
Kiwis are the only actors I've seen who can do an Australian accent flawlessly - mainly because their accent is so similar to ours. The occasional British actor can do one relatively well (Daniel Radcliffe in December Boys had a surprisingly good one) but Americans - as a rule - can't do one. Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder is the best I've ever heard but even then it was flawed.
I
suspected
Cromwell couldn't be Australian because our media here tends to hype and go on about any actor that's had even minor success overseas and yet they've remained pretty quiet about him. It's part of the reason I came here - to check whether he was Australian or Kiwi. I never in a million years suspected he was bloody American.

I was 7 when Babe came out. Later on I watched L.A, Confidential, The Queen and also The Green Mile.
Australian, Irish, English and American (southern) accents all nailed.
I too always assumed he was British. British actors (some of the best are, I think) tend to have to be on point with accents to get work this varied. Christian Bale and Ewan McGregor do some of the best regional American accents I've heard.
Also, I knew the guy was tall, but 6'7"? He must have to constantly be ducking in and out of every doorway.

For realI always assumed he was Australian since BABE was done by an Australian director, and because of his name,which is straight-up British. I also didn't know he was well past retirement ageI looked at his birth date and was like, "He's THAT old?" because he dosen't look or act itjust saw him on Tavis Smiley, and didn't know he was that politically active and awareinteresting dudeanother reason I need to watch my tape of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

I always thought he's Australian, it really suprised me that he's American

I remember him from All in the Family, and whenever I see him I sayhey it's Stretch CunninghamI remember on Happy Days, Richie Cunningham shows how, when he's with a girl, how he stretches then puts his arm around the girland then he says"and that's why they call me Stretch Cunningham" lol

affected by what?
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I second the OP, my god I just found out he's not British..I was 100% convinced he was!

Strange I always thought he was Irish.

The name "Cromwell" should indeed be indicative of Britain, however Mr. James Cromwell's accents certainly are not. His accents are about as British as one can get for a Californian actor putting on a British accent. If you have been raised in Britain it is clear his accent is not "English." Affected perhaps, English not.

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Me too, as soon as I saw him in "Then Queen" I thought I know that guy, but from famous US productions like The Green Mile, Babe etc. His accent in The Queen is perfect. How did he do it?

I thought Babe was set in Australia?

Maybe I was a conceited arse wipe back in 2009.

Perhaps those ignoramuses weren't taught the hist5b4ory of foreign countries at high school? Perhaps they were, but they aren't such conceited arse wipes that they'd think impertinent name-dropping would add anything to the discussion? Who knows??
~.~
There were three of us in this marriage
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Which Cromwell? The actor or the wart face?

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How come none of you ignoramuses acknowledged that his "Britishness" is probably because he shares a surname with a very famous British revolutionary? (although johnrupertg probably knows)
Cromwell is to British history what Jefferson, Lincoln and perhaps even Washington are to American history. Actually I've always wondered if James Cromwell is at all related to him. Perhaps if he went on "Who Do You Think You Are?" we'd find out (although it seems to be limited to celebrities who were born in Britain)

I always thought he looked Mexican.

Of course, he has the British look.
Did you think that Indians just started to magically give birth to Caucasians?
My vote history
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ummm.he was nominated for an Oscar for Babe

• Without proof, the truth is just a lie that everyone believes.

He even has that British look! And he should've at least been nominated an Oscar for his spot-on portrayal of a British farmer in Babe.
I recently saw him in the movie Tank and was very surprised to see him play a convincing southern deputy (in one funny scene, he's bare assed from head to toe if anyone wants to know). Then I came on here to find that he was actually born in LA! Man, he had me fooled.
"They're not gonna catch us. We're on a mission from God." -Elwood Blues

I seem to recall a "Cromwell" that was not so popular in Ireland