10 Best Sci-Fi Movies Starring Star Trek Actors (That Aren't Star Trek)
5. I, Robot (James Cromwell)
Taking its name from the collection of short stories by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, 'I, Robot' stars Will Smith as a detective in the year 2035, whose hatred of robots leads him to suspect one of murdering its own creator.
The creator in question is Dr. Alfred Lanning, played by James Cromwell. As well as a few one-time appearances on multiple Star Trek TV shows, Cromwell's main acting credit in the franchise is Zefram Cochrane, the creator of the warp drive, in the 1996 Next Generation film, Star Trek: First Contact.
Lanning is already dead by the time the film begins, having apparently committed suicide by throwing himself out of his top-floor window. His interactions with Smith's Del Spooner are in the form of hologrammatic messages recorded before his death. There's both a kindliness and an aloofness about the way Cromwell delivers his lines, which keeps the viewer guessing right until the end as to the nature of his untimely demise.