James Cromwell Upset With Mad Character on Six Feet Under  6/11/05

Babe star James Cromwell has lashed out at the writers of his hit show Six Feet Under for not warning him that his character would be descending into madness when he signed up for the role.

The veteran thespian, who plays George Sibley in the drama, insists he had no idea he'd be so challenged by creator Alan Ball and his staff, and feels the writers were wrong not to tell him. The actor fumes, "They didn't tell me what was going to happen to this guy - all of a sudden, he started to fall to pieces, and I had no idea. "I'm not used to working this way. I like to know when I'm being led somewhere... I've been doing this for 40 years. I'm not a goof. "It doesn't add any more life to keep actors out of the loop." 

Ball admits he's surprised with Cromwell's outburst in America's TV Guide magazine. He says, "It's funny that he has a problem with it, because I think he's done some of his best work and he should be proud of that." 

But Cromwell isn't the only Six Feet Under star who has issues with Ball. Castmate Peter Krause insists the writer is wrong to end the show after its upcoming sixth season. He says, "When we got the phone call, most of us weren't anticipating this to be the last season. We thought we'd do two more."