David Morse

I think I have actually seen David Morse before (even though it's pretty likely is wasn't him) Let me tell you my story!

I was probably, oh, fourteen-ish, deep into my Homicide: Life on the Street obsession (since I was able to catch the first few seasons in repeats at this point) and my family, Mom, Dad, Sis and Grandma and Grandpa all went out for a fancy-pants dinner one night.

We went to this restaurant in Fridley that doesn't exist anymore, but it was quite fancy at the time since it sat on Moore Lake, Ooh La La.

Anyways, the place as packed because it also happened to be prom night for one of the local high schools, so there was a ton of people. My sister and I were probably bored with the adult conversation and turned our attention to the other diners. And that's when I think-but-probably-didn't-spot David Morse.

"Cori! Omygod, that guy was on Homicide!" I said while smacking my sister and looking in the direction of an older man, well dressed with gray hair and a garishly dressed date. Cori isn't as well versed as I am in Homicide episodes, so I explained the episode he was on to her. "He played Bayliss's cousin!" So....this man wasn't seated too terribly far from us, so, natch', her and I tried to get his attention (it's important to keep in mind this is a few years before the classic Family Guy bit when Stewie and Brian think they see Tom Bosley on a train and Stewie shouts, "Tom!" "Tom Bosley!" and quickly looks away.) Cori and I start saying words loudly that we would think would get his attention, such as "Homicide!" and "Bayliss!" while quickly looking away. Heh. He did look over at us once, but probably because the man thought we were crazy.

Another David Morse-but-not incident happened a few years later. Cori and I attend the Elton John/Billy Joel concert at the Xcel center in St. Paul. Her and I were jammed in a center row and for some reason, we were standing up before the show started, the good-looking, gray haired well dressed older man (he has a killer black pea coat on, I remember this) sitting in the next seat put his arm around me, as if he was holding up from falling from our nose-bleeders onto the covered ice below. Oh, we had a good laugh and it was sweet-natured and whatnot, then we all took our seats, I looked over to Cori and said, "Hack." She understood.

Hack was a show I, well, never really watched. But! David Morse was the star of it, and I always enjoyed the commercials because not only was David Morse the star, Andre Braugher was his sidekick! Aw, yea! David played....some sort of vigilante taxi driver, from what I understand.

David Morse usually plays characters that start out as sympathetic everymen, but then transform into horrible human beings a lot of the time. Why is this?

For example, David Morse was in, yes, The Most Depressing Movie Ever Made, "Dancer in the Dark". (you know what, I'm going to link to my MySpace blog I wrote about this movie last year) He started out great, helpful....and then turned out to be terrible. I think it's because David Morse has that face. The face of a nice man you could probably trust, but, AHA! Not so much!

David Morse also falls into the category of Older Men I Find sexy category. He's a good looking guy! C'mon! Look at that trustworthy face, and gracefully gray hair! Silver fox!

And now that I think about it, the guy at the restaurant was probably the same guy at the Elton John concert. Huh. I wonder....

Zeljko Ivanek

Let me tell you a very long, somewhat confusing story about television.

My sister, mother and myself were HUGE fans of The X-Files when it first started in 1993. HUGE fans. My sister and I kinda ran with it and it became a flat out obsession. Ok, there was a character on the show, Krycek, played by Canadian actor Nicholas Lea, whom I thought was very, very cute. C'mon, it was the mid '90's and us "tweens" back then (hell, the ages 10-12 1/2, 13-ish, didn't even have a label, the word "tween" didn't exist) didn't have a lot of fodder outside of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and I hated Home Improvement (yes, even as a child, I was a TV Snob) So, Nicholas Lea, before he was the evil Krycek played a somewhat inept police officer on the show The Commish. Cori and I would watch The Commish every day on summer break. It was in syndication by that time on Lifetime and we managed to fit it in somewhere between Days of our Lives and Oprah viewings. Well, the Commish of The Commish had his main sidekick cop, Stan, played by actor Geoffrey Nauffts (who really deserves a blog of his own, but isn't going to get one in the near future.)

Ok...still with me...this is the important part.

I remember very clearly one morning, it was still summer break, I do believe, Cori and I were sitting in the kitchen watching TV and a commercial for Homicide: Life on the Street came on (it was NBC, so we were probably watching Days...) and the guest actor for that week was Geoffrey Nauffts. "Stan!" I shouted, and pointed at the TV. Cori and I had a good laugh, "I'm totally going to watch that!" I declared, even though I had never in my life seen an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. As I consult the IMDB, this particular episode aired in 1996. I was thirteen years old.

I watched the Homicide episode that week in my bedroom on my little TV and therein began the obsession for me.

I loved Homicide so much, when I was in high school, I joined the debate team (for some reason...that lasted all of one year...only school activity I ever participated in!) and I missed a debate practice night, I lied telling them I couldn't go for some legitimate sounding reason, when, in fact, I just wanted to go home and watch Homicide (uh, it was a two-part Law and Order crossover, so no way in hell was I missing that.)

Anyways. I loved, I love Homicide. It was my favorite show, and I dare say, it still is. I loved all the characters (I loved Bayliss the most) and this blog could easily turn into me talking about how much I loved that damn show, but that would be a huge digression.

One of my favorite characters was ADA Ed Danvers, played by Zeljko Ivanek. Yea, I don't really know how to pronounce his name either. He was such a sweet man, and even though he had to work against our detective heroes sometimes, he was always on their side, and we loved him for it.

After Homicide ended (sadness!), the shows head writer, Tom Fontana, gave Zeljko a job on his new brainchild over on HBO, Oz, as Evil Republican governor of the fictional state Oswald State Penitentiary is in, James Devlin.

You hated Gov. Devlin so very much. He was pro-death penalty (boo! hiss!) he wanted to shut down Emerald City (a pox on you, Governor!) He wasn't a cool, rock and roll governor like Jesse Venture, oh, no, he was oh so evil!

Then Oz ended in a flurry of musical numbers and gay lover spats. I shed a tear.

But now, I get excited whenever Zeljko Ivanke pops up in whatever it is I happen to be watching. True Blood!? Hi, there! "In Bruges", hey! Zeljko! How have you been? I was even excited when he won an Emmy last year and I had never even seen the show he won for! I was just excited for him, because, dammit he deserves it!

And then, this summer, I became obsessed with Heroes. And who should pop up on the entire third season of Heroes as the guy we all loved to hate, Agent Danko? Zeljko! Awww....yea!

Also, along with Peter Stormare, Zeljko Ivanek also has the honor of appearing in The Most Depressing Movie Ever Made, "Dancer in the Dark". Ugh.

I love that this actor is still working, and not only that, winning awards! Yay! I always love when obscure people I like receive accolades!

Oh, and he was in "Die Hard 4." Which isn't as bad as you would hope it would be.

Courtney B. Vance

When I was in high school we often had the same teachers for various different subjects. The same teacher who taught English to freshman also taught Humanities to AP seniors. It was a large school, but it was broke public school, so there you have it. There was a husband-wife teaching duo at my high school, and between the two of them, they probably taught about six different classes I took over my high school career, and in every class, somehow, they managed to fit in the Hallmark Hall of Fame Made-For-TV movie, The Boys Next Door (they weren't like, math or science teachers, so....you know...) I personally, really enjoyed this movie, and never really complained or napped when we watched it (I became an expert on napping in high school, even when it wasn't movie day.)

The Boys Next Door was made in 1996 and it is about a social worker played by Tony Goldwyn and the group home he helps facilitate. Among the men who live in his group home are Nathan Lane, Michael Jeter, Robert Sean Leonard and Courtney B. Vance. All these men have some sort of mental illness or handicap. It's a cute, sweet little movie, and Courtnet B. Vance's character was always my favorite. He was so childlike and innocent, and not noming on the scenery like the rest of the actors.

I would become excited whenever I would see Courtney B. Vance in something because I only ever knew him from his severely autistic character in the Boys Next Door. I saw him in the Tuskegee Airmen when I was in love with Andre Braugher (yes, I was in love with Andre Braugher...) and he popped up in the quintessential white-lady-saves-inner-city-youths classic "Dangerous Minds".

Courtney B. has also done a TON of TV! He appeared on an episode of Law and Order: Original Recipe back in 1995, AND was series regular on Law and Order: Criminal Intent as ADA Carver. I'm not quite sure why he left the show, but I'm sure it probably had something to do with Vincent D'nofrio's showboating.

He was on on episode of Flash Forward the other night. I was watching it at my parent's house with my mom and sister, and it was on mute, so I have no idea what was going on, or what character he was playing, but it was still fun to watch him.

It's always great when he shows up on screen because you know he is going to bring a sense of levity and calm to whatever the situation is. He isn't a showy actor, even when he is in showy roles. He seems like he just does his job, very well, and goes home for the day. You could especially tell this on Law and Order: CI. Nothing against Vincent D'onofrio, but, his character could be standing on his head, crying about how his mother is a schizophrenic, twitching and stuttering at the same time, and Courtney B. will just be standing there, totally relaxed, arms crossed, letting him go on and on and on....

On a side note. Courtney B. is married to Angela Bassett! I love her!

Peter Stormare

There's always a little something off about the characters Peter Stomare plays. You can't quite put...your...finger...on...it, then, bam!

"Does he have some weird accent?"

Yes, yes he does. In fact, it's Swedish!

For example, Peter played mod boss John Abruzzi on season one and two of Prison Break. They made it very clear that this "mob" was of the Italian persuasion, yet, it's boss had a Swedish accent. It was very, very distracting. My husband Jim even tried to explain it away, "Maybe it's the Russian mob?" No...and he still wouldn't be Swedish... Peter's character only made it a few episodes into season two before being killed my Alex Mahone, but, to be killed by William Fichtner, well, that's an honor.

And, in the craptacular film "Constantine" Pete played Satan. With a Swedish accent. And a sharp white suit I may add. But aside from all that (he was also that gross "doctor" Tom Cruise went to go see for an eyeball transplant in "Minority Report"...all I remember about his character is that he sneezed or blew his nose or something, and snot went everywhere. So gross) Peter is best known as the silent but deadly partner to the character actor Messiah, Steve Buscemi in "Fargo". He's all long underwear and hats with earflaps in that movie, but he also has no qualms about shooting two people "up Brainerd" without giving it a second thought, along with the kidnapping victim, and Steve himself!

But, Peter Stormare has a rare, rare honor. He appeared in the Most Depressing Movie Ever Made, "Dancer in the Dark." This movie makes me want to rip my heart out every time I see it, and inexplicably, whenever it is on IFC, I sit there and freakin' watch it. What the hell is wrong with me? Pete plays our heroine's love interest, before she is thrown into prison and executed for a crime she did commit, but had to commit, for various reasons. And it's a musical!

I get excited whenever I see Peter Stormare in something because even if it is something bad, you at least know the time he spends on the screen will be entertaining. Despite his Swedish accent that he just can't seem to hide, he is a really great actor.

It's also nice to know that someone of Peter Stomare's caliber isn't above doing television. Aside from being a regular cast member on Prison Break, he has done an episode of this and that every now and then. Even recently appearing on Entourage.

And, he's not half bad looking when he cleans himself up, either.

Robert Knepper

Robert Knepper, where have you been all my life? Like I mentioned in my William Fichtner blog, I recently watched the entire series of Prison Break....and Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell has to be one of the most outstanding and ridiculous characters ever.

He is, literally, an inbred hick. Not only that, he is also a murdered and a rapist and loses a hand in season two and calls out hero, Michael Scofield, "Pretty" like it's his name. Hehehehe....just thinking about all these elements of the character makes me giggle. Sure, T-Bag is horrible, and like any good prison instigator, he is the main reason the riot started mid-way through season one. Ah, prison life, if it were anything like it is on TV, well...it would still be pretty horrible. But how entertaining!

Now, aside from all of T-Bag's cartoonish villiany he could still be pretty scary. And, I credit this to Robert Knepper. He did have the Foghorn Leghorn (thank you, Ryan) accent, and yes, the weird little tongue flicker thing whenever he saw something he...liked. But, it was so consistent! You'd think by the end of season four a man from Ohio would either be sick of doing an exaggerated Southern accent and just forget the whole thing (see: Kevin Costner in "Robin Hood") or it would have become so over-the-top it would make you eyes roll, but not so much. Sure he pronounced "Miami" like "My-Ammy" and never did give up on the nicknames, but it never felt disingenuous (side note: that is the second time I used that word tonight, I used it earlier in an e-mail to a former co-worker about our old boss....funny.) He was consistent with T-Bag's twisty mustached-ness (T-Bag actually never had a mustache, Oh, wait, he did briefly) and he was downright scary sometimes. Now, if you have the ability to go from Snidely Whiplash to Patrick Bateman within a short span of time, that's talent.

Again, like all our favorite villains T-Bag, yes, even The Bag, had that small, very small, shimmer of good in him, and a delightfully tragic back story to explain away his horribleness.

Now, Knepper is keeping company on the once great Heroes as the new baddie. No more Southern accent, now it's all Carnies and eyeliner (fun fact: he was also on Carnivale!)

On film, Robert Knepper is doing what all great character actors do, making big-budget crap slightly more watchable. " The Transporter 3", huh? You could get one more storyline out of Jason Statham's furrowed brow?

Not only does Robert Knepper earn a place in my heart for his portrayal of T-Bag, but the man was on Star Trek: The Next Generation, for pete's sake. As a love interest for Deanna Troi! OMG! AND, not one, but two Law and Order appearances, one was Criminal Intent.

And the way Clancy Brown kept me tuning in to Carnivale, Robert Knepper will keep me tuning into Heroes. Him and Zachary Quinto, of course.

Kirk Acevedo

Poor, poor Miguel Alvarez. That man could not catch a break. Season one of Oz not only did he get thrown into Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary, he is stabbed in the first ten minutes of the very first episode. He also endured the death of his baby and sliced open his own face in a little mental breakdown. He, like all the men in Oz was, on paper, a bad guy. But over the course of the series he had his moral ups and downs. Sure, he cut out the eyes of one of the prison guards to gain respect among the fellow Latino gang members (who didn't like him, because his skin was too pale) ...he later trained a seeing-eye dog for the very man he blinded, and made it bi-lingual! Alvarez escaped, then he came back, spent some time in solitary and was starved by the prison guards, tried to kill himself, everyone else tried to kill him at one point or another...really, Alvarez had a rich, rich story line. And it takes quite the actor to pull all that off, and not be annoying about it. Kirk Acevedo was the man for the job!

Alvarez was by no means my favorite character on Oz (that honor goes to Ryan O'Reily, of course. I don't just give my cats random first and last names, you know...) But I always rooted for him, even when he was doing bad things (mostly, I would say, "Alvarez, why would you do that!?") You wanted the character to do well, he wanted to do well, but in the end, he was his own worst enemy.

Kirk Acevedo is, as my friend Sarah describes "like a Method actor for serialized TV." True, I guess I don't know if Kirk subscribes to that certain practice of acting, but he is very, very intense. And, why just for serialized TV? Well, because the man hasn't been in a whole lot of movies. I am scanning his IMDB page and I recognize two titles he has been in. That's ok, in my opinion some of the best actors are on television.

As any character actor worth their salt, Kirk was appeared on Law and Order. He even starred in the one ill-fated spin-off, Law and Order: Trial by Jury (yea, I don't really remember it either.) Aside from that he appeared in two separate other Law and Order episodes, Original Recipe AND SVU Flavored.

As of late, Kirk has appeared on Fringe, and promptly killed off of Fringe, from what I understand. That's too bad, really.

I hope to see Kirk Acevedo more often. Not only is he a great actor, he is also one of those rare character actors who are also good-looking by, you know, non-quirky standards.

Joel Gretsch

"Who?" You ask? Indeed, who. Joel Gretsch, though not recognizable in name, and maybe not terribly recognizable in face, is a quintessential character actor...AND, he's from Minnesota. Double trouble!

My sister sent me a text informing me that Joel Gretsch is the the new V mini-series that is airing right this second. I am not watching it, however, my step-son has overtaken the TV with Nicktoons.

Cori and I have a long history with Joel. No, we don't know him, but he is from St. Cloud, which is where some of our extended family reside. No, our history, as it should be, is based in his work. It all began with Steven Spielberg's wonderful mini-series Taken, about aliens come to earth. Joel was the cute hero, we IMDb'd him back then, and became giddy upon learning he is from our home state. That same year, Spielberg's "Minority Report" came out. Joel appeared in the first ten minutes or so as a potential murder victim. I believe even in the theater, Cori and I both went, "Joel!" when he appeared on screen.

Another quick story about me working at the bookstore: A handsome blonde man would often frequent our cafe a few nights a week. He always came in workout gear, so we must have been his stop after the gym. Once I became familiar with Joel, I was convinced this guy was him. He was the spitting image. I mean, he is from Minnesota, after all. A city not terribly far from where my Barnes and Noble was, too! I spilled the beans to my co-worker, Jennifer. "See that guy in the cafe?" I whispered to her, "he is totally an actor, he was in Minority Report, you know that Tom Cruise movie?" Jennifer looked, "Hey...I know that guy!" She said...wait, what? "I'll go ask him." No! I was suddenly super-embarrassed and went and hid behind a bookshelf. I watched her make animated conversation with this guy, he was friendly and polite, then she came back over to me. "Haha, he's not an actor!" She said, "Oh, jeez, what did he say when you asked him?" I asked Jennifer, "He said, 'Man, I wish I was in a movie with Tom Cruise.!'" Heh, embarrassed! But, you probably really don't want to be in a movie with Tom Cruise, dude. He'd probably try to recruit you to, I dunno....something.

Joel Gretsch has really found his niche with aliens, however. After Taken he went to star in the cable series The 4400, which at first was about aliens, but then turned out to be about people from the future? I think? It kind of became a big 'ol mess after a while. He was the FBI agent trying to figure it all out. He then went to play bit parts in some pretty sizable movies. Crappy but sizable movies, like "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" and "Push". Oh, and hark, do I see a Law and Order credit on the CV, too? Why, yes, yes I do. Law and Order: Criminal Intent, but it still fits under that Dick Wolf umbrella.

Now, starring in V, Joel continues on with his alien love.

Fun fact: He's married to William Shanter's daughter!

Viva La St. Cloud!

Clancy Brown

HBO tried to expand it's oh-so-edgy original programming back in 2003 with a sci-fi show about Carnies that took place in the 1930's. I know, right? That description alone had you hooked! Carnivale wasn't all that bad, it was interesting. The head writer of the first season was Ronald Moore (Battlestar Galatica, anyone??) and yes, it lasted more than one season...it lasted two seasons! It had big, ambitious storylines seated in the Bible and mythology. But, what I think it suffered from more than anything was it's pace. It was one looooong hour of TV. I watched Carnivale, at first out of interest, the commercials made it look cool. When I realized it wasn't all that cool, I tuned in for Clancy Brown.

Again, this was an actor who I knew. Mostly from "Highlander"! He was The Kurgan! All head safety pinned on to his neck and everything! He got me though, on Carnivale ,oh, goodness did I have another weird crush on this man. His character, Brother Justin was a horrible, horrible person, a preacher who was like, a demon? Maybe? I think so, and he has a weird relationship with his sister played by Amy Madigan. And he had these dreams, dreams about Nick Stahl and ...stuff. Wow. I really thought I would be able to remember the finer points of Carnivale better, apparently not. Brother Justin did have a gigantic tree tattooed on his back, I do remember that, and was something of a rapist. But, at the same time, he was still preaching and trying to do good. Like our pal Rachel said recently, "the best villains have a little bit of good in them..." and he did, to an extent. So, his dastardly character was fun to watch, Clancy was the most fun. His voice, deep and scary, his physicality, tall and imposing, (according to the IMDB, he's nearly 6'4!) and his big hands...

My love for CB burned brightest when I was working at Barnes and Noble. I was in charge of the Children's department at my store, and one night, whilst bored and waiting to close, I was looking through a Spongebob Squarepants episode guide...flip, flip, flip, I get the page about Mr. Krabs, "voiced by Clancy Brown." WTF?!?!?! I believe I got home that evening and set the Tivo for some Spongebob. Sure enough, the little red owner of the Krusty Krab with his pirate accent and grovel was none other that Clancy Brown (a character he still voices!)

CB, natch, has also recently been on an episode of Law and Order, along with Lost, and doing voice-over work for countless cartoons.

On film, Clancy Brown has appeared in, along with "Highlander" ("it won an Oscar." "For what?" "Best Movie Ever Made.") "Shawshank Redemption", some Ashton Kutcher crap, the new "Nightmare on Elm Street"....all kinds of stuff! It seems he is also always up to play some rough and tumble ancient warrior of some kind to.

I haven't seen Clancy in anything recently, aside from the Law and Order episode, and my Carnivale DVDs (yea, I bought season one) sit on my shelf unwatched. Perhaps I will have to dive back in, to re-ignite my love for the CB.

But, Carnivale was such a dumb show....

Oh, and he was the star of Earth 2! Dare I say, Earth 2, anyone???

Philip Seymour Hoffman

I love Philip Seymour Hoffman (herein known as PSH) for all the wrong reasons. Well, one main and very wrong reason: He reminds me of my dead cat.

Allow me to explain.

My sister Cori and I have a very...particular sense of humor. We are each others biggest fans. When her and I lived together a few years ago we brought Big Kiddy to live with us. Big Kiddy had been in our lives since 1994. He was affectionate, sweet, and had personality to spare. In 2004 for my 21st birthday, I adopted a kitten for myself. This kitten, Ryan O'Reily as he became to be known, was a pippish little thing that loved attention, Big Kiddy, who was ten at the time, was not a fan. He became surly, and....robust (he wasn't always "Big" Kiddy) BK always had the prettiest coat. He was a blonde cat. How many blonde cats do you see around, really? One day, Cori and I were perched on our couch watching, I believe Oscar coverage from the year PSH won, 2005? 2006? Something like that, anyway, she made the comment that, "If Big Kiddy were a human, he would be Philip Seymour Hoffman." No truer words have been spoken.

BK passed away a little over a year ago. He was fourteen, in failing health, and ready to go to that big ball of string in the sky. I was very upset when this happened, I had this cat since I was eleven years old, but, I am comforted now when I see pictures of my Big Kiddy...and oddly enough, when I see Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Oh, yes, I still have my pippish Rypants, too.

PSH first credit ever, according to the IMDB, was an episode of Law and Order, so he earns his character actor stripes with that credit alone.

He did win an Oscar for his role as Truman Capote, but I don't think professional accolades immediately disqualify you from C.A. status, do they? Well, the Oscar aside, everything else about him is standard C.A. fare. His build, for one, all, well, let's stick with robust, and unconventionally handsome. He is another one that ping-pongs between minor roles in huge, crappy movies, "Mission Impossible: III", really, P? Did you lose a bet? And "Twister". To not-as-crappy bigger movies like "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain".

I guess PSH physical appearance and talent can work against him at times. Now forgive me for this sketchy memory, but here it goes. I remember watching Ebert and Roeper, I do believe, when PSH's movie "Love Liza" came out in 2002. He played an gambling-addict or some such, an aimless sad-sack, from what I gathered from the review. Anyway, one of them, Ebert or Roeper said that PSH was "too perfect for this role." Wait a minute, how the hell does that work? Isn't that suppose to be a good thing, when you are perfect for a role? Ebert and/or Roeper was not pleased with PSH's performance at all because of that fact. You're too good at playing a dumpy guy down on his luck. WTF? I was angry on behalf of PSH. Really, what do you guys want from him?! Who was suppose to play a role like that? Adam Sandler in a fat suit? And really, why do I remember movie reviews from seven years ago? If only I could fill my brain with useful knowledge....

Philip Seymour Hoffman will always hold a special place in my heart, even if it is weird and kinda morbid, but, it is what it is. Plus, that rouge DJ on a boat movie he's in looks kinda cute.

William Fichtner

I am starting this blog with a character actor who has recently entered into my consciousness. Well, like any good C.A. he's always been there, I am just now starting to take notice.

I remember going to see "The Dark Knight" on it's opening night, super excited because

OMGitwasthenewbatmanmovieandheathledgerwasplayingTheJokerandwewereallexcitedandhelooked
creepyandOMGthenewbatmanmovie! That evening, for many reasons, was one of the more fun experiences I had in the summer of 2008. My sister and I both wore our Batman shirts, she pre-bought us tickets, then forgot them at home so we spent a good chunk of time hanging out at Borders with a newspaper calling theaters in the area to see if the movie was not sold out anywhere...thank god for a dumpy hole-in-the-wall-our-employees-are-behind-glass-for-a-reason movie theater in Mounds View!

Anyway, within the first ten minutes of the film, William Fichtner made his all too brief appearance as a shot gun toting bank manager. I remember thinking, "if that dude is playing this small of a role in this movie, it's gotta be good!" I recognized him instantly, of course, even though then, his name escaped me.

Now, long story very, very short, I watched all four seasons of Prison Break in little over a month. William Fichtner joined the cast of the show in the second season, and his character, Alex Mahone, quickly became my favorite (well, aside from shady government agent Paul Kellerman, but that's another story).

Fichtner, as my friend Doty described him is, "one of those actors who are more talented than they are handsome" but at the end of my Prison Break viewing bonanza, I was finding him downright sexy. I was captivated by, what Fametracker describes as his "skeletal good looks". I thought, "well, maybe it's just the character I have become sympathetic towards" his character, Mahone, had been a drug addled FBI agent being blackmailed by a shadow government for reasons not relevant to this blog to kill our Prison Break heroes. Well, halfway through season 3 he becomes one of the good guys, avenging his murdered son and trying to repair the damage he brought upon his estranged wife, a, without a doubt, sympathetic character.

I looked into Fichtner outside of his character. Wikipedia tells me that he is older than my parents (whatev, he's a sexy old dude...) and loves hockey.

Aside from Wikipedia, I also explored his IMDB page, and the man has really been in everything. From "Blades of Glory" to "Go" (I freakin' love that movie) to voice-over work in the Grand Theft Auto video games, to big budget messes like "Pearl Harbor", "Contact" and "Armageddon" to soap operas and some guest starring roles on a bunch of TV shows, Fichtner gets around.

Recently, I learned to pronounce his name correctly thanks to our pal Ryan. I was pronouncing it "Fincher" like David Fincher, in fact, it is pronounced "Fic-ner." German, right? The Germans love to add letters where they don't really need them. See: Seifermann. Why the "e" before the "i"?

Now that I heart Fichtner like I do, I think a re-watching of "Go" is in order. Perhaps a encore of "The Dark Knight"? I don't think I can bring myself to ever see "Pearl Harbor" ever, ever again though.

*Oh, and the name of this blog comes from William Fichtner's "Hey! It's That Guy!" entry I should cite, "Fichtner has toiled honourably in face-recognition, what's-his-name-again? limbo, patiently serving his celebrity apprenticeship. Now, he stands poised to step into the relatively blinding spotlight that is minor celebrity."

Heh, they spell certain words with "u"s! Wacky Canucks.

An Introduction

A few years ago, the awesome Canadian website, Fametracker.com, stopped producing new content. Fametracker touted themselves as the "Farmers Almanac of Celebrity Worth." It was hysterical, and more importantly, I agreed with pretty much everything they said. Why they stopped with the new content I never really got to the bottom of, but I was pretty bummed when it was clear they weren't coming back.

One of the best parts of Fametracker was there every-increasing index of character actors called, "Hey! It's That Guy!" which later went on the become a book. I think I responded so strongly to the "H! ITG!" posts because I love character actors. They are my Brad Pitts and George Clooneys, my Leo Dicaprios and ....whoever the hell else you would consider a leading man. These men, and their performances, bore me. They are dull and over-exposed. Give me a Clancy Brown, William Fichtner, Zeljko Ivanek...ANY DAY, over those men.

I have thought about creating this blog for quite a while, a celebration, a discussion of these men who toil thanklessly in movies and TV (especially Law and Order) to entertain us.

I took a small survey of my friends and family asking them who them who their favorite character actor is, and why. Here are a few of the responses I got.

My delightful friend and co-worker Kristi said Colm Meany. She cited her reasons as "you never know who he's going to be next, how much he's going to weigh, and if he's going to be a good guy, a bad guy, or if you are wrong the whole time until the end of the movie and then you go 'wow, i didn't see that coming but i should have because it's colm meany.' Besides what a cool name...Meany!" True enough. He is a perfect example of a character actor. Seamlessly bouncing back and forth between film and television (yes, Law and Order...AND Star Trek: TNG...and to be fair, mostly movies made in the UK, but still) Colm Meany is instantly recognizable, even if you aren't sure of his name.

Another response I got was from my friend Brian who cited Stephen Tobolowsky. Again, another instantly recognizable face. Brian said he chose Stephen Tobolosky, after sending me almost an entire scene of "Groundhog Day" typed out in an e-mail, because "because whenever he shows up on screen I know I will laugh and be filled with joy." And really, isn't that the point of actors? They solicit a response from us, be it positive or negative? If they are doing their jobs correctly, then yes.

However, I got two responses that made me think. Two separate responses championing Gary Oldman, and one pointing out Anthony Hopkins.

Are Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins character actors? To me, I would consider these men leads.

Oldman does play supporting parts, even recently in the Batman films, unrecognizable as Commishoner Gordon and has Harry Potter's godfather Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, but to be fair, the Harry Potter films are nothing but great British actors all playing supporting roles to three unsure teenagers. In fact, as I scan his IMDB page, I can pinpoint very few films that he played the lead. He plays the villain. A lot. (like hardcore villains, Lee Harvey Oswald and Pontius Pilate!) But his resume is as versatile as a Stephen Tobolosky. TV shows, video game voice-overs, random soundtracks. Maybe Gary Oldman is the ultimate character actor. I mean, aside from the Dracula, Sid Vicious and Beethoven.

So, that leaves Anthony Hopkins. He is, without a doubt, a leading man. He may not have the looks of a typical leading man, but he plays the lead in the majority of the work he does. And, even though he is instantly recognizable, he still manages to disappear into the roles he plays (except him playing Hannible Lecter is wearing a bit thin, it seems like now even he is doing impressions of his original performance) I'm going over his CV on the IMDB and, there is the occasional Hallmark Hall of Fame movie from the mid-70's, a stint of a BBC show, so maybe, if it wasn't for that one iconic character, Anthony Hopkins would have been the ultimate character actor. He wasn't the originator of Dr. Lecter, you know. That was Brian Cox in 1986's "Manhunter." Now, Brian Cox, he's an excellent character actor.

But, the best character actors aren't the showy ones, clearly. As a character actor you have to fade into the background a smidge, make room for whatever douchebag is on the cover of Us Weekly this week. But, that's the beauty of it, to these men it isn't about celebrity, it isn't about being on the cover of grocery store weeklies, it seems purer somehow, and therefore, more fun to watch.

I am no expert on acting. I took one acting class in high school, and felt I was a massive fail at it (I did however, gain a small amount of praise from my teacher when my partner and I did our scene. I was so nervous I kept tapping my foot and chewing on my hair, his critique was, "I was just so happy to actually see someone moving on stage!" Uh, thanks?) I know nothing of the "techniques" or "skills" or "craft" of acting, however, I do watch a lot of TV and movies, and if wasn't for people like me, these actors would all be starving to death on the streets. Does being a consumer of their skills give me the right to critique them? Damn skippy, it does. It also gives me the right to praise them.

And I want to praise my favorites.