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.