# Help me identify an actor, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415 "2007-05-09T17:00:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/21 "2007-05-09T19:02:11Z")
Michael Nouri? (I’m thinking of him as a shape-shifting alien in the vastly-underrated _The Hidden_.) No way it could be Kyle McLachlan or Joe Pantoliano, right? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/22 "2007-05-09T19:06:33Z")
Or how about [Peter Greene](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338886/)? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/23 "2007-05-09T19:09:28Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Michael Nouri? (I’m thinking of him as a shape-shifting alien in the vastly-underrated _The Hidden_.) No way it could be Kyle McLachlan or Joe Pantoliano, right? [/QUOTE] Sorry but these guys are older than my man, even though they have the credentials to be considered. (I had to look up Nouri, but he’s not the guy.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/24 "2007-05-09T19:10:31Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Or how about [Peter Greene](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338886/)? [/QUOTE] Good try, but not the one. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/25 "2007-05-09T19:14:07Z")
Probably too well known but… [Willem Dafoe](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000353/)? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/26 "2007-05-09T19:15:24Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Michael Nouri? (I’m thinking of him as a shape-shifting alien in the vastly-underrated _“The Hidden”_)… [/QUOTE] One of my favorite B-movies! But Nouri played the LAPD detective, not the shape-shifting badguy alien. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/27 "2007-05-09T19:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] Probably too well known but… [Willem Dafoe](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000353/)? [/QUOTE] Too well known and too old to boot, but thanks for the try. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/28 "2007-05-09T19:28:43Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Too well known and too old to boot, but thanks for the try. [/QUOTE] OK. What’s the prize for winning, by the way? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/29 "2007-05-09T19:32:01Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] OK. What’s the prize for winning, by the way? [/QUOTE] Just some gratitude for helping me put a name on this guy so I can look up what all he’s done. The weird thing is that I meant to check the credits on whatever show or movie I saw him on lately and just got busy on something else and forgot to check him out. Now I can’t get him off my mind, and once I can identify him I can get on to other thoughts! ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/30 "2007-05-09T19:36:39Z")
[Ralph Fiennes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000146/) ? [Crispin Glover](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000417/) ? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/31 "2007-05-09T19:38:23Z")
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex] [Ralph Fiennes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000146/) ? [Crispin Glover](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000417/) ? [/QUOTE] Neither one, but thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/32 "2007-05-09T19:38:31Z")
[Ron Eldard](http://imdb.com/name/nm0253035/), perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/33 "2007-05-09T19:43:27Z")
[QUOTE=Chanteuse] [Ron Eldard](http://imdb.com/name/nm0253035/), perhaps? [/QUOTE] Nice try. Age range is close and I have seen him do some good work. If anything, Eldard is a little more good-looking than my guy, but the same qualities of deviousness and shiftiness do apply, at least in some roles. Seeing Eldard’s picture allows me to add that my guy has a rounder face and a fuller head of hair. (I realize some of my earlier “helpful hints” have less hair). I can’t remember my guy wearing glasses or having facial hair, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/34 "2007-05-09T19:45:01Z")
[James Spader](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000652/) ? Doesn’t have dark hair, but fits the rest of the description… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/35 "2007-05-09T19:47:29Z")
So you can’t recall anything at all he’s ever been in? This is a tough one and I have effectively lost my mind trying to figure out who it could be. Damn you **Zeldar**. Damn You!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/36 "2007-05-09T19:48:13Z")
I thought of James Spader too, but he’s probably too well-known. What about William Sadler? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/37 "2007-05-09T19:49:09Z")
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex] [James Spader](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000652/) ? Doesn’t have dark hair, but fits the rest of the description… [/QUOTE] Spader’s both too old and too well known to be my man. In his earlier work Spader had those qualities I’ve mentioned, but Alan Shore has put on too much weight and has mellowed out too much. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/38 "2007-05-09T19:51:26Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] So you can’t recall anything at all he’s ever been in? This is a tough one and I have effectively lost my mind trying to figure out who it could be. Damn you **Zeldar**. Damn You!!! 😃 [/QUOTE] I love you, too! 😃 If I could think of any way to let IMDB help me locate this man, I wouldn’t be trying to tap the mental acuity of the Dope. I’m hoping somebody else is as hooked on B actors as I am. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/39 "2007-05-09T19:53:25Z")
[David Wenham](http://imdb.com/name/nm0920992/) ? [Cillian Murphy](http://imdb.com/name/nm0614165/) ? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415/40 "2007-05-09T19:55:25Z")
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex] [David Wenham](http://imdb.com/name/nm0920992/) ? [Cillian Murphy](http://imdb.com/name/nm0614165/) ? [/QUOTE] Good tries, both. Right age range and I have seen Murphy do some excellent work. But no. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-actor-please/403415.md?page=3)