‘That Guy’: The 10 most unsung character actors
It’s an accepted practice of watching any movie that every now and again, somebody is going to pop up on the screen that elicits the response of, “Hey, it’s that guy from that movie!”
The A-list superstars and lauded thespians may take the lion’s share of the spotlight, but cinema simply wouldn’t exist without the prolific bit-part players who make a habit of showing up everywhere to such an extent that they gain attention in their own right for filling the pivotal role of being ‘that guy’.
Danny Trejo began life as one of them before branching out and becoming a name in his own right, but for many performers, there’s no harm or shame in being relegated to the background. In fact, it can often lead to a stellar career, with plenty of faces that don’t necessarily have names coming to mind, proving it beyond reasonable doubt.
History is littered with many who fall into the category of ‘that guy from that movie’, but the following ten have elevated it to another level and become the quintessential stars who everybody immediately notices, but won’t necessarily know what’s printed on their driver’s licence.
The 10 most unsung character actors:
10. Bruce McGill
A regular collaborator of Michael Mann on The Insider, Ali, and Collateral, Bruce McGill has been popping up everywhere for decades but rarely comes within touching distance of a major supporting role, never mind a leading one.
That doesn’t mean he hasn’t worked with some of the biggest directors or on many of the biggest movies around, though, because he most definitely has. National Lampoon’s Animal House, Cliffhanger, Cinderella Man, Elizabethtown, Lincoln, and countless more have put him in the orbit of countless Hollywood heavy hitters, ensuring that everybody is going to recognise him from somewhere.
Even on the small screen, he’s only been a recurring lead in a handful of shows separated by decades, but not once has he ever come close to finding himself out of work. McGill is reliability personified and can regularly be found as either a businessman, a mentor figure, or deploying his distinctive Southern charm.
9. Charles Napier
If a movie needed someone to act as the villain to a pair of blues singers, antagonise John Rambo, become befuddled by Austin Powers, preside over a pivotal trial being fought by Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, or unsuccessfully apprehend Hannibal Lecter, they could find them all in the form of Charles Napier.
From The Blues Brothers to Philadelphia via Rambo: First Blood Part II and The Silence of the Lambs, the grizzled veteran’s square-jawed menace was everywhere during the peak of his prolific powers, with villainy and corruption becoming his stock-in-trade whenever he was called upon.
Almost always cast as law enforcement, authority figures, or soldiers, Napier turned typecasting into an art form and did so with a very distinctive type of restrained fury that always had audiences wondering whether or not this was the time that bulging vein on his forehead was going to pop during one of his many, many, many on-screen rants.
8. James Rebhorn
It’s meant as the highest of compliments to say that there were few people better in cinema at playing suit-clad weasels who always looked as though they’d throw their own grandmother under a bus in the name of self-preservation, which James Rebhorn turned into an art form on a number of occasions.
My Cousin, Vinny, Basic Instinct, Scent of a Woman, Carlito’s Way, Independence Day, The Game, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Cold Mountain combined to win widespread adulation, a smattering of Academy Awards, enduring fandoms, and billions of dollars at the box office, with Rebhorn getting up to his usual tricks in all of them.
There’s a certain grace in knowing exactly what people expect to see and then doing precisely that for such an extended period of time, but Rebhorn was undeniably great at being the untrustworthy type with a lingering air of cowardice that he turned it into the basis for virtually his entire big screen career.
7. Stephen Tobolowsky
Being Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day is more than enough to secure a lasting legacy, but Stephen Tobolowsky continued to spread his wings and show up everywhere, with his cumulative list of film and television credits rapidly approaching 300.
Don’t forget that he was in Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, Christopher Nolan’s Memento, Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct, Spike Jonze’s Adaptation, and Michael Mann’s The Insider, too, so he’s developed a habit of working with some top-tier directorial talents to ensure that it’s not always about quantity over quality.
Equally ubiquitous on the small screen as he has been in cinema, there can’t be many people left on the planet who haven’t yet watched anything that doesn’t feature Tobolowsky in at least some capacity, such is the breadth of his reach as an indelible ‘that guy’.
6. Dylan Baker
Absolutely no offence intended to Dylan Baker, but if there’s ever a need for any movie or TV series to cast someone who may or may not be revealed as a slimy asshole at some point in the story, then there aren’t many better around.
Another esteemed ‘that guy’ to have become a popular fixture of television’s Golden Age, Baker kicked off his big screen career with the bizarre double-header of notorious flop Ishtar and classic comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles in 1987, and ever since he’s continued on in that vein to show up virtually everywhere to give a performance that’s never anything less than eminently watchable and entirely convincing.
He’s just got one of those faces that lends itself perfectly to being a ‘that guy’, with his undoubted range and versatility making him the perfect foil for anybody he shares the screen with, whether that comes in a comic book blockbuster like Spider-Man, a true-life drama like Selma, or a riotous comedy like Anchorman 2.
5. Philip Baker Hall
Just like many other avid fans of cinema, Paul Thomas Anderson was a huge supporter of Philip Baker Hall, so much so that he cast him in Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia to intertwine the two during the formative years of the filmmaker’s career.
If an action flick needed a stern but kindly authority figure, then he was available and on-call, as Midnight Run, The Rock, Air Force One, Rush Hour, and Enemy of the State made clear. If there was a comedy that required gravitas then he’d be there, too, as evidenced by Say Anything, Ghostbusters II, Bruce Almighty, and Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
On the dramatic side, Baker Hall was present and accounted for in The Truman Show, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Dogville, Zodiac, Argo, and many more besides. The man exuded calm from positions of power, something that it takes a ‘that guy’ decades to accomplish, but he made it look so easy.
4. Clifton Collins Jr
One of the newest elite-level ‘that guy’ actors on the block, Clifton Collins Jr has showcased a remarkably chameleonic ability to disappear into any character he plays, regardless of whether it’s a bit-part or a substantial supporting role.
On the rare instances he does get elevated to leading man status, though, titles like Jockey offer compelling evidence that it’s something he should be gifted a great deal more often. They say variety is the spice of life, and that extends right into Collins Jr’s compellingly fascinating filmography.
He’s notched well over 100 credits in films made by everyone from Steven Soderbergh, Mario Van Peebles, and Robert Redford to Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, and Rod Lurie, to say nothing of his dalliances with Alejandro González Iñárritu, Edgar Wright, and Clint Eastwood, which barely even scratches the surface of his ‘that guy’ credentials.
3. James Cromwell
One of the rare ‘that guys’ to be recognised by the Academy Awards, James Cromwell secured his one and only nomination in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category for Babe, where the leading role was played by a pig. Quite simply, this man has been everywhere for what feels like forever.
Another renowned small-screen performer who’s been popping up in a cavalcade of episodic classics basically since time immemorial, being a very tall actor with an angular face and kind features has manifested into an incredible run of supporting parts that have elevated him into the pantheon of all-time ‘that guys’.
With almost 200 film and television credits to his name, Cromwell has sparred with everyone from Jack Bauer and Spider-Man to Captain Jean-Luc Picard and genetically modified dinosaurs, which isn’t something anybody else has the privilege to say.
2. J.T. Walsh
If there was a high-concept thriller, legal drama, or politically-tinged movie being made at any point between his first movie released in 1983 and his tragic passing at the age of only 54 in February 1998, then there’s a distinct possibility J.T. Walsh was in it.
For proof, look no further than an extensive, exhaustive, and highly accomplished list of his big-screen outings, which took him from explosive blockbusters to nail-biting psychological stories, carried along by light-hearted comedies and the odd foray into hard-hitting drama, where he could always be counted upon to deliver the goods.
Hannah and Her Sisters, Good Morning, Vietnam, Misery, Backdraft, A Few Good Men, Hoffa, The Client, Nixon, Executive Decision, Sling Blade, The Negotiator, and Pleasantville are just the tip of an impressive iceberg, one that’s enshrined Walsh’s legacy as an inimitable ‘that guy’ audiences will continue to discover for decades to come.
1. Xander Berkeley
What makes Xander Berkely the ‘that guy’ to end all ‘that guys’ is that even the quickest glance at his assorted list of 200+ credits makes for ludicrous reading, based entirely on just how many popular films and monster-sized hits he’s lent his name to over the years.
Sid and Nancy, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Candyman, Apollo 13, Leaving Las Vegas, Heat, Gattaca, Amistad, Taken, and Kick-Ass have all welcomed him with open arms, to say nothing of his mountainous volume of TV credits that’s drawn Lou Ferrigno’s The Incredible Hulk, The A-Team, Miami Vice, The X-Files, ER, 24, Justified, The Walking Dead, and The Mandalorian into his orbit.
The multifaceted Berkeley can, will, and probably has already cropped up in any genre that’s ever existed, and as soon as somebody invents a new one, he’ll no doubt show up there, too. Anybody who hasn’t seen him on-screen at least a handful of times must be new to using their eyeballs because there can’t be any other explanation.
