These days, James Cromwell has been creeping it up as former nazi doctor Arthur Arden (or Hans Gruper) in American Horror Story: Asylum. The FX drama series is wrapping up soon, but it isn't the last we've seen of Cromwell on the small screen. The actor, whose TV credits also include Six Feet Under, 24, My Own Worst Enemy and Boardwalk Empire, is set to appear in NBC's upcoming drama Do No Harm.
Do No Harm stars Steven Pasquale as Jason Cole, a surgeon who's struggling with an alter-ego that surfaces and takes over his body each night, making a mess of his life in the process. The drama premieres on NBC January 31 at 10:00 p.m., capping off NBC's comedy block on Thursday nights.
News of Cromwell's casting in Do No Harm actually surfaced last month, but at that time, details on his role and number of appearances were scarce. TVLine got some additional information since then, reporting that Cromwell will play Jason's mentor in the series, and he'll appear in at least three episodes.
(American Horror Story: Asylum spoilers ahead - if you're not caught up on the show!)
The last we saw of Cromwell's character Arden in AHS, he was lovingly (or desperately) embracing (clinging to) Sister Mary Eunice's body as it was being cremated. So that may have been the last we see of Arden in AHS. After Cromwell's especially creepy portrayal of the sadistic doc, I sort of hope his role in Do No Harm is a bit more friendly. We know he's just as capable of playing warmer roles (see: The Green Mile, Babe) as he is with the unnerving ones. That only makes this Do No Harm role harder to predict. Pure speculation: He could be a kindly, wise mentor, or he could have some secret, sinister motives Jason doesn't know about. It's not difficult to picture either scenario with Cromwell in the role. Since the only thing we know about him as of now is that he's a mentor, we can only guess. Either way, more Cromwell is always a good thing.
