Emmy nominee profile: James Cromwell (‘Succession’) gives an honest eulogy for his brother in ‘Church and State’

Charles Bright
·4 min read
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James Cromwell has a chance to earn a bookend to his first Emmy win. This year the actor received his seventh career Emmy nomination. He’s nominated in Best Drama Guest Actor for playing Ewan Roy on the HBO drama, “Succession.”

Cromwell’s nominated episode is “Church and State,” the penultimate episode of the show’s final season. After helping to wheel in the coffin of his brother, Logan (Brian Cox), Ewan gets up to give a eulogy even though the rest of the family doesn’t want him anywhere near a microphone. Greg (Nicholas Braun) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) try to stop him but Ewan defiantly steps up to the pulpit.

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He starts by saying that only history can judge Logan. He then describes their journey from Scotland to Canada during World War II and how the two of them had to be completely quiet for three days and could only communicate using their eyes. Upon arriving, Logan’s aunt and uncle send him to a better school that he hated. He became sick and eventually was able to come home. Their baby sister had arrived by then and she would go on to contract polio and die. Ewan says that Logan always blamed himself for infecting her, even though he doesn’t know if that’s true, and that their aunt and uncle never let him forget it.

He then tears into what Logan unleashed upon the world in the form of his media empire, saying that “he has wrought some of the most terrible things…drawn in the edges of the world. Now and then darkened the skies a little. Closed men’s hearts.” He chastises Logan’s character and the way that he viewed society, saying, “He was mean, and he made but a mean estimation of the world and he fed a certain kind meagerness in men.” He closes by saying that Logan stopped trying to be a good person and that it’s a terrible shame. He returns to his seat in the pews where Greg compliments him on what he said.

SEE How far ahead is ‘Succession’ in the Emmy race for Best Drama Series?

Cromwell, who’s been working in film and TV for almost 50 years, received his first Emmy nomination in 2000 for Movie/Limited Supporting Actor for “RKO 281.” The following year he earned a bid in Drama Guest Actor for “ER” and was nominated in the category again in 2003 for “Six Feet Under.” In 2013 he won Movie/Limited Supporting Actor for “American Horror Story: Asylum.” He also got nominated in this category for playing Ewan in 2020 and 2022.

If there’s one thing we know about the Emmys, it’s that Emmy voters love speeches and this could help net Cromwell a second trophy. Over the years we’ve seen scene stealing speeches guide several actors to Emmy wins including Allison Janney (“The West Wing”), James Spader (“The Practice” and “Boston Legal”), Jessica Lange (“American Horror Story”), Jeff Daniels (“The Newsroom”), Bobby Cannavale (“Boardwalk Empire”) and Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”). Cromwell makes every moment of his five minute eulogy captivating as hell and the fact that it’s in a show that’s looking to be a juggernaut at this year’s Emmys only makes his chances seem stronger.

This article is part of Gold Derby’s “Emmy nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2023 acting contenders.

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