Character Actor Appreciation

Good call on Baldwin, he's a guy I never liked as a lead but in stuff like THE COOLER he always seems like a nice fit.

My all time favorite character actor is Lance Henrickson. He's the best guy around to cast as a villain but when you see him in a flick like ALIENS you can tell he can handle all types of roles.

Though he has sadly passed J.T. Walsh is a guy I always liked seeing in a movie. Even throwaway films like BLUE CHIPS came off a tad better thanks to him.

Some other favorites:

Michael Madsen
Dennis Farina
Keith David
Tom Sizemore
Robert Patrick
Michael Rooker
John C. Mcginley
Ted Levine
William Forsythe
Bill Saddler (How come he doesn't pop up more?)

For the film that has the best collection of character actors it's hard to get much better than TOMBSTONE.

Since Moltisanti went ahead and named everyone I would've, let me add only one name to the discussion: Elisha Cook. He's excellent in The Killing and very understated in The Maltese Falcon. He's also in another awesome private eye flick, The Big Sleep, and in a rarely seen(I'm guessing that's rarely seen, anyway) Richard Stark adaptation of The Outfit with Robert Duvall.

F.T.W. Kid

William H Macy.

Actually, this got me thinking - are there any character actresses? And I don't mean ones who play the friend in romantic comedies.

I had this nice long list with a synopsis of each person and why they were on the list and there was an error when posting. So, here's the short list.

Philip Seymour Hoffman
Sam Elliott
Chris Armstrong
Jeremy Piven
Luis Guzmán

Luis Guzman and Don Cheadle. Both of them are absolutely fantastic in whatever they do, but seeing them together in Traffic was great. Don Cheadle also delivered what many considered an Oscar-worthy performance in Devil in a Blue Dress. He is great.

Amanda Plummer.

My father caught this on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) just the other day and has been raving about it all weekend. I haven't seen it myself, but I've made sure he'll record it the next time it's on. Did you like it?

It's true that there doesn't seem to be as many character actresses to praise but I think that's because once you hit 40, as an actress, the amount of roles written for you are slashed to almost nothing. My favorite would probably be Rene Russo. She has played a lot of leads but I always find her to be solid even though she ends up in a lot of bad movies, as do many character actors. I hope she's good in TWO FOR THE MONEY because I doubt I'll get around to checking her out in YOURS, MINE, AND OURS.

After seeing HISTORY OF VIOLENCE Maria Bello is becomming one of my favorites and not just for her MILF like looks (though that helps, and she may not be a mother but you get my drift). She does some award worthy work in VIOLENCE but I enjoyed her a lot in the PRECINCT 13 remake as well.

There is also a stable of character actors who are mainly associated with comedies. Out of these guys my favorite is Fred Willard. Just seeing his face makes me laugh, he basically steals BEST IN SHOW from a cast full of funny performers.

Steve Buscemi. The guy's made a ton of movies, and while most people either know him as Rockhound or "That Crazy Guy From Adam Sandler Movies*", he's actually a very good actor. I love him in GHOST WORLD--one of the most honest and sad portrayals of a geek ever. I really wish he'd gotten some kind of nomination for that.

Going a little younger, I think that Peter Sarsgaard's in an interesting place right now--he's poised to become a leading man, but I think he'll wind up being a much better character actor. I loved him in GARDEN STATE (while my friends--and most of my generation--claimed to be Portman or Braff's characters, I found myself saying "Man, I'd totally return merchandise I haven't paid for if I knew I could get away with it."), and I'm looking forward to him in JARHEAD.

Ryan Gosling of THE BELIEVER, THE NOTEBOOK and the upcoming STAY is another example--it could go either way at this point.

Speaking of JARHEAD, Chris Cooper's a great character actor/"Hey! It's That Guy!" who delivered years of great, memorable work up until the Academy finally wised up with ADAPTATION. ("Who's gonna play me?! I think I should play me!") While I love Cooper's work in that movie, I have to say my favorite performance of his is in SEABISCUT--his character has a great, quiet nobility and a self-awareness that his time has past. Plus, Cooper's just got one of those faces made for period pieces--I suspect that were he alive fifty years ago, he'd be part of the scenery in many a western.

As for "Leading Men Who Do Better Work As Character Actors," (Not to be confused with "Leading Men/Ladies Who Are Actually Character Actors", see DeNiro, Streep, Oldman, Crowe* etc.) I submit to you Jude Law. I like SKY CAPTAIN and haven't seen ALFIE, but Law's supporting role in ROAD TO PERDITION and his cameo in THE AVIATOR are among the best things in their respective films.

After seeing William Hurt in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (another Leading Man Who's A Better Character Actor), I remembered what a great actor he can be. I hope the film kicks off a career resurgence with a series of smaller, supporting characters for him.

Gary Sinise needs to be rescued from CSI Hell. That's a guy who's very presence in a movie will get me to see it--yes, even REINDEER GAMES. He's still the best thing about FORREST GUMP.

Paul Bettany has had several opportunities to become a leading man as well, but he's another actor who's best in supporting/character roles--I submit to you A KNIGHT'S TALE and MASTER AND COMMANDER. He's my top choice to play the Joker in the Batman sequel.

Other Great Character Actors from Across the Pond: Sean Bean, Brendan Gleeson (no historical epic is complete without him), Tckechy Kayro (I can never spell that guy's name right), Jim Broadbent, and, of course, Peter Stormare.

*While I'll admit that most of Sandler's films post-HAPPY GILMORE are shit (except, of course, for PUNCH DRUNK), Buscemi can often be pretty funny in them. BIG DADDY is the one that springs to mind here.

*2. Kate Winslet as well, although the jury's still out on her. She seems to relish great character work, but is still one of the most beautiful women on the planet.

In terms of "leading men becomming character actors" I have to go with Mickey Rourke. He spent many years doing really small roles in stuff like THURSDAY, BUFFALO 66, and THE PLEDGE and it's finally paid off for him. Not sure how DOMINO will turn out but one way or the other I'll check it out mainly because of him. I'd love to see Tom Berenger make the same kind of transition. I thought he was heading that way when he had that small part in TRAINING DAY but he needs to find more roles like that in high profile films.

James Woods is another guy who should be mentioned. He always helps make movies like CASINO and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY enjoyable to watch. Then take a look at something like THE SPECIALIST. It's a bad movie, no doubt about it, but any scene involving Woods is a blast.

Shame on me for not bringing up Frank Vincent earlier. He's always got it going on:

Although, again, he sometimes tends towards the more comical, I have to shout out praise for Mr Bill Paxton. I did a whole thread on why this guy's great, so I won't go over old ground here, but look at One False Move, Apollo 13, Tombstone, A Simple Plan and Aliens for proof of Paxton's greatness.

As far as actresses go, Ellen Burstyn is always more than solid and often amazing, in whatever sized role she takes on. Standouts are Requiem for a Dream and The Yards in recent years, and I can't wait to see her re-team with Aronofsky for the upcoming The Fountain.

A lot less well-known, but always fairly enjoyable, I'm starting to really get into Brent Briscoe. Again, fantastic work in A Simple Plan, playing very much against type, he tends towards poor but decent roles (The Majestic, 24 season 4) and he was the "I could get more than that on e-bay" guy in Spidey 2.

Other greats:

Philip Seymour Hoffman
William H Macy
Jeffrey DeMunn
Micheal Jeter
Christopher Guest (the guy's a chameleon - I always forget that's him in The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men and Little Shop of Horrors)
Jeffrey Wright
Viggo Mortensen (before he went all famous, check him out in scene-stealing form in Carlito's Way, Crimson Tide, The Indian Runner and The Passion of Darkly Noon)

John Turturro (C'mon, it's Jesus)
Tony Shalhoub
Ving Rhames

As for actresses, there's Laura Linney, Hope Davis, Stockard Channing.

Johnny Depp

Yeah, I did. I was suprised at how well Duvall pulled off "Parker". I couldn't see it at first. His name was Earl Macklin in the film, by the way. They also stayed pretty close to the book, which I also liked as I enjoyed the book quite a bit. Speaking of this film, Joe Don Baker was in it and he's another awesome character actor who should probably be working more. Let me throw one more name out: David Patrick Kelly. I first saw him in The Crow and have always remembered him because not only can he act, but he also has an uncanny resemblance to Charles Manson. The Warriors, 48 Hours, Commando, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, The Crow, Last Man Standing. Take your pick; he's always good and always memorable.

F.T.W. Kid

The scene in Carlito's Way is a classic, but I thought he was truly great in The Indian Runner.

And thanks, Rath, for bringing up Sean Bean. I always tell people (IRL, chewers seem to appreciate him) what a fantastic actor he is, but I forgot to mention it in this thread.

I would classify Glenn Close as a female character actor.

I'd call Toni Collette and Jennifer Jason Leigh female character actors.

A character actor in a leading man's body: Brad Pitt. No kidding.

My love of the Rooker is well-documented. Martin Donovan's pretty damn cool. And David Morse certainly deserves more respect.

Let's not forget Miguel Ferrer! Or Ray Wise!

And a character actor I really like is this guy:



Lenny Von Dohlen gets props for his name alone, but the fact that he got to smooch Virginia Madsen (in ELECTRIC DREAMS!) and work with David Lynch (on TWIN PEAKS) earns him my undying loyalty.

For some reason, whenever I see that guy's face I always think of the walker lever. 'IT'S YOU'

This thread is missing Xander Berkely love.

From 24?


SPOILER - or is this too old?:
I'm going over my recently purchased Season 2 Box Set of 24, and I'll admit I'm really sorry to see him go. George Mason's a fantastic character and he does great work.

John C. Reilly
Ray Winstone

All my personal favorites have already been mentioned, but 2 missing that family members like are:

Bruce Dern
Warren Oates

How about Vincent D'Onofrio? The Cell aside, he's done some terrific work or John Goodman. I think John Goodman is criminally underrated, he's mainly known as Roseanne's husband in her TV show which is a shame because aside from really good work in that series, he's also a coen bros. regular (when they use him) and just a damn good actor.

Also Vincent Schiavelli. Right up there with Al Leong. Those guys are great.

I'm pretty partial to THE SENTINEL, Richard Burgi. It's cool to see him show up, as he seems to have a badass side to him. I understand he's pretty mean and lean in that STARSHIP TROOPERS sequel.

I think I have a good addition to the female character actors:

Catherine Keener

She was terrific in "Being John Malkovich", and I also saw her in "Box of Moonlight", an indie with the aforementioned John Turturo.

Any list of character actors has to include Kevin "Six Degrees Of" Bacon. Here's a guy who always shows up in the strangest places, and has gone from leading man to character actor to bad guy to leading actor back to character actor again.

Showbiz pundit David Poland, who's occasionally wrongheaded but frequently astute and interesting, weighs in on underrated actors and actresses here and here.

Some obvious names, for sure, but he also brings the love for William Fichtner and Viola Davis.

Glad that Fred Ward was name-checked in this thread, and I'm throwing in Scott Glenn. That guy doesn't work nearly enough.

Could somebody do a shitty character actors thread? I've really been looking for an opportunity to shit on Johnny Lee Miller. Figuratively or otherwise.

Jennifer Coolidge (sp?) is a remarkably able comic character actor.
So is Catherine O' Hara.
And while we're praising the cast of Best In Show, let's not forget Jane Lynch.

I've tried to like Jonny Lee Miller - I dunno, maybe it's just residue from that excellent Connery impersonation he did in TRAINSPOTTING - but last weekend's viewing of MINDHUNTERS was the last straw when it comes to this charisma-challenged, scenery-gnawing blank. Now I just feel sorry for him, because it must be difficult hanging out with cats like Ewan McGregor and Jude Law when you have only a fraction of their screen presence and acting skill.

Still, he got to bone Angelina Jolie. No one can take that away from him.

Peter Ustinov!

Michael Massee, Michael Wincott, Alan Rickman, and Jason Isaacs are some great character actors, especially for their villainous roles. Dwight Frye is one of the original greats, playing Renfield in Dracula and Fritz (not Igor) in Frankenstein. One character actor who seems to have fallen on rough times recently (at least casting-wise) is Chris Penn, who used to constantly show up in smaller movies and give great unhinged performances, but is now reduced to occasionally popping up in Starsky & Hutch.

Sophie Thompson.

I gotta say my favourite is Brad Dourif. While I already loved him from "Exorcist III" and "Scream of Stone", I think he's doing the best work of his career on Deadwood, a show stuffed to the gills with great character actors. Old school, I'd say Lon Chaney Sr., who seriously would warp his own body for a role. Also much love to Udo Kier, in everything from "Flesh for Frankenstein" through the Von Trier cameos, Crispin Glover, for "River's Edge" and "Twister" (the Almereyda, not the de Bont), and Clu Gulagher. While he's great in "Return of the Living Dead", his carrot juice-swilling hitman in Don Siegel's "The Killers" is one of the oddest performances I've ever seen. As for a woman, I submit Joan Cusack, especially "Grosse Pointe Blank" and "Addams Family Values". From previous posts, I think that Keith David, Bill Sadler, and Vincent D'Onofrio are some of the most chameleonic actors I've ever seen, which I guess has always been my definition of character actor.

I agree with a lot of the names previously offered.

I know somene mentioned the cast of Tombstone, but I specifically wanted to point out Powers Boothe.

Fred Thompson really brought Hunt for Red Oktober and Die Hard 2 up a notch (I guess we can menton Dennis Franz, also).

Also from Oktober, and perhaps not as visible, is Courtney B. Vance, someone who I'm embarrassed to admit I confuse with the equally effective Andre Braugher.

Art LaFleur (sp) and Clancy Brown would make my list as well. Even just the latter's voice.

As for character actresses, what about Linda Fiorentio and Debra Farentino? Linda Hunt maybe?

Glad that you mentioned Polito. I've just started watching the old Michael Mann series "Crime Story" on DVD and Polito is one of the many great character actors who has a large role on the program. Most people know that Dennis Farina was the star of the show but look at the stacked roster of actors who have popped up after about only the first 7 episodes:

Jon Polito
Michael Madsen
David Caruso
Stephen Lang
Ving Rhames
Ted Levine
Michael Rooker (though he only popped up for a few seconds)

Plus a dramatic role from Andrew (Dice deleted) Clay!

Tony Shalhoub.

Although I don't feel she's always the best choice for leading roles, Julianne Moore is an excellent character actress. Magnolia, Cookie's Fortune, Boogie Nights, the Big Lebowski, Short Cuts, etc. etc.

I guess I'm kind of on a Paul Thomas Anderson kick, but I'd like to add Alfred Molina and Thomas Jane. Molina speaks for himself, but Jane does some great work in Boogie Nights that makes me want to see more of his character stuff.

I know this thread is aiming to differentiate between these two aspects and focus solely on character actors, but it would be remiss of us to ignore the truly awesome Daniel Day-Lewis, who combines leading-man charisma and character-actor chops in a way unseen since the glory days of Brando.

Watch MY LEFT FOOT, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS and THE AGE OF INNOCENCE back to back and you'll see what I mean.

Billy Drago - HBO could've never had action Fridays without this guy.
James Hong - Need I say anything?