Turkey should make amends: James Cromwell’s interview on Armenian Genocide epic ‘The Promise’

Hollywood actor James Cromwell, who plays a supporting role in the Armenian Genocide epic ‘The Promise’, talked to “Collider” about the movie and the Armenian Genocide issue. The film’s script was “a little bit of a surprise” for the actor.

“I never thought this issue would come to a film because it’s been suppressed for so long by Turkey. The fact that it did cover the Armenian genocide is really important, especially in the circumstances of today, with so many genocides going on. Maybe they don’t call them genocides, but they certainly are.

It’s important to get this issue out. Not only should Turkey make amends, but we [Americans] should also look at some of our own issues with Native Americans and black people”, Cromwell told the Collider.

“The whole world has got to shift. This is a film made consciously with the idea of trying to appeal to the greatest number of people to get them into the theaters to see a love story and be entertained by it, in the same way that Hollywood things are, but this backdrop presents something to them that they might never have thought about.

If people go home and look this up on the internet after they see the film, that would be really important,” he added. He mentioned it was very difficult to balance the Armenian Genocide and a love story, because several facts had to be left out in order for the love story to fit in the script.

“And then, you have to intertwine your love story in with those facts”, he said.

The Promise, staring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac, tells the story of the Armenian Genocide at the outset of World War I. The late Armenian American billionaire Kirk Kerkorian financed the production of the film.