# Hey's it's that guy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342 "2007-10-03T02:54:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/1 "2007-10-03T02:54:44Z")
(Or gal.) I know we’ve done this before, but it’s happened to me twice in the last few weeks. You see someone in a film (perhaps an older one) and look him/her up and find that he/she is better known to you in another role, but you didn’t recognize him/her. The most recent case for me was watching _Broadcast News_, and I thought I recognized Bobby, the geeky video editor. (In the scene in which Holly Hunter is rushing to finish a news story at the last minute, all the pressure is on him and Holly has the memorable line, “Bobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobbybobby.”) He reminded me of [Philip Seymour Hoffman](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000450/), but I was pretty sure he wasn’t. But when I looked him up, I realized why he seemed familiar: he is _Boston Legal_’s Jerry Espenson (aka [Christian Clemenson](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0166061/)). The other case happened month or two ago. I was watching _There’s Something About Mary_ and I got to wondering if maybe the actor playing Cameron Diaz’s retarded brother Warren was really a retarded actor. To my surprise he was actually _Deadwood_ tough guy Dan Dougherty, aka [W. Earl Brown](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0114868/). That was a real surprise, more so than the other case, because Brown’s two performances were so different. So when were you surprised to find that two roles were played by the same actor? ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/2 "2007-10-03T03:01:14Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] So when were you surprised to find that two roles were played by the same actor? [/QUOTE] My weirdest and most exciting was discovering that Rube, the gruff, beloved reaper from Dead Like Me was none other than Inigo Montoya! Two loves, united in one perfect moment. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/3 "2007-10-03T03:02:22Z")
I was dumfounded to learn that Anthony Michael Hall, who played numerous skinny teen dweebs in films of the 1980s, grew up to be the gorgeous guy who stars in the TV version of _The Dead Zone_. I saw the name “Anthony Michael Hall” and thought “Gee, I wonder if he’s related to that little geek from _Sixteen Candles_.” Similarly, when I first saw Jerry O’Connell on _Sliders_, I didn’t recognize him as the tubby kid from _Stand by Me_. Makes me wonder whether some of the dorky guys from my youth may have turned into hunks. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/4 "2007-10-03T04:55:31Z")
I just saw _Across the Universe_ this weekend, and thought Sadie’s manager had a familiar voice, even though he only had a line or two. Turns out he was played by James Urbaniak, who does the voice of acerbic Dr. Venture on _The Venture Bros._ (and I didn’t even know what Urbaniak looked like before!) ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/5 "2007-10-03T06:02:47Z")
_Captain Stottlemeyer_ on _Monk_, was the killer in _Silence of The Lambs._ I would’ve never known if I hadn’t been flipping through the chanels after watching _Monk_, and landed on a showing of _Silence of The Lambs_, right when he’s opening his door to Clarice. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/6 "2007-10-03T06:03:10Z")
There’s actually a [website](http://www.fametracker.com/hey_its_that_guy/) devoted to this phenomenon (or at least to a listing of ubiquitous character actors who aren’t quite household names). Unfortunately it looks like they’ve now removed all images from the site, no doubt due to warning-shot letters from copyright lawyers. (Which sort of defeats the purpose, since the “hey, it’s that guy!” epiphany is generally inspired by seeing the actor’s face.) Two of my personal favorites are the late [J. T. Walsh](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000687/), who apparently inspired the site, and [Richard Jenkins](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0420955/), whose recognizability definitely received a boost from his role on “Six Feet Under,” but whom I bet most people still wouldn’t be able to name if they saw him. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/7 "2007-10-03T07:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] (Or gal.) I know we’ve done this before, but it’s happened to me twice in the last few weeks. You see someone in a film (perhaps an older one) and look him/her up and find that he/she is better known to you in another role, but you didn’t recognize him/her. \ The other case happened month or two ago. I was watching _There’s Something About Mary_ and I got to wondering if maybe the actor playing Cameron Diaz’s retarded brother Warren was really a retarded actor. To my surprise he was actually _Deadwood_ tough guy Dan Dougherty, aka [W. Earl Brown](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0114868/). That was a real surprise, more so than the other case, because Brown’s two performances were so different. [/QUOTE] He also played Meat Loaf in a 2000 [TV movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242956/). (I notice the imdb plot summary for this movie was written by Jim Beaver, Brown’s “Deadwood” co-star, and the SDMB’s own **jumblejim** ) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/8 "2007-10-03T08:31:41Z")
Obligatory [Vincent D’Onofrio](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000352/) post. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/9 "2007-10-03T12:51:34Z")
Discovering Adam Baldwin in **Firefly** was also the title character in **[My Bodyguard](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/GBF/bodyguard.htm)** ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/10 "2007-10-03T12:59:10Z")
After watching 3 or 4 episodes of “Torchwood” on BBC America, I realized that [Eve Myles](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0616990/), who plays Gwen, also played Gwynneth the maid in the “Unquiet Dead” episode of “Doctor Who” way back in the early part of the first season. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/11 "2007-10-03T14:27:21Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] He also played Meat Loaf in a 2000 [TV movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242956/). [/QUOTE] I was surfing the TV waves the other night, playing “I can name that movie in fifteen seconds” game, and came across “Crazy in Alabama.” Easy to recognize from Melanie Griffith (I can remember when she was cute) and her bloated lips, but the “It’s that guy!” moment came when I recognized Meatloaf as the sheriff. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/12 "2007-10-03T14:27:50Z")
It’s surprising to watch Patrick Dempsey playing “McDreamy” now and remember he began his career playing dorks who couldn’t get a date. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/13 "2007-10-03T14:38:36Z")
I was watching _Broken Arrow_ a while ago, and that young government guy (“I don’t know what’s scarier, losing a nuclear weapon or that it happens so often there’s actually a term for it.”) looked familiar. I had to look him up on IMDb. His name is [Frank Whaley](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001844/), but I’ll always remember him as “Check out the big brain on Brett!” from _Pulp Fiction_. I was very surprised to discover that the prosecuting attorney from _The Untouchables_ is also one of the bosses in _Cool Hand Luke_ (“There’s no playing grab-ass or fighting in the building. You got a grudge against another man, you fight him Saturday afternoon. Any man playing grab-ass or fighting in the building spends a night in the box.”) and is also the cartoonish, redneck sheriff in _Live and Let Die_ and _The Man With the Golden Gun_, [Clifton James](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0416378/). ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/14 "2007-10-03T14:39:26Z")
Acting since 1964, [James Hampton](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358996/) ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/15 "2007-10-03T14:43:55Z")
I watched _Wagons East_ recently, and spent a fair amount of time staring at one particular balding character thinking that he reminded me of Data for some reason, but didn’t look at all like Brent Spiner (who played Data). It was the guy who played the hologram doctor on Star Trek Voyager. I can’t tell you his name, but I recognized it when I saw it in the credits (I’d figured out the connection long before). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/16 "2007-10-03T14:52:42Z")
[QUOTE=Eureka] It was the guy who played the hologram doctor on Star Trek Voyager. I can’t tell you his name, but I recognized it when I saw it in the credits (I’d figured out the connection long before). [/QUOTE] Try to catch an old episode of _Benson_ someday, it’ll drive you nuts. A pre-Trek Brent Spiner had an occasional recurring role on _Night Court_ as patriarch of a family of hard-luck rednecks in the big city. Took me a while to recognize that one. ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/17 "2007-10-03T15:11:07Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Discovering Adam Baldwin in **Firefly** was also the title character in **[My Bodyguard](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/GBF/bodyguard.htm)** [/QUOTE] Sometime between seeing Firefly and Season 5 of Angel (so probably summer of 2004) I got Full Metal Jacket from Netflix. When they got to the part with the unit in Vietnam, I couldn’t figure out why Animal Mother looked so familiar until I looked him up on IMDB. I blame the fact that I’d never seen Jayne without his facial hair. If I had seen him in his “clean shaven” look he had as the Senior Partner’s liason in Angel before watching FMJ, I probably would’ve gotten it faster. And then some time later, I happened to catch Independence Day on TV, and realized that Baldwin was also the Major giving the pilots a “crash course in modern avianics”. I had a couple “that guy” moments in this week’s Heroes as well. In the Irish gang holding Peter, I immediately spotted [Malcom](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0444098/) from Enterprise (I’ve been getting Enterprise discs from Netflix recently). But the leader was causing some recognition I couldn’t pin down, until someone pointed it out in the Heroes thread here on the SDMB: he was one of the space monkeys in Fight Club. “In death, we have a name. _His_ name is Robert Paulson…” ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/18 "2007-10-03T17:08:05Z")
I posted about this in the _Heroes_ thread, but I just realized yesterday that the main member of the Really Bad Irish Accent Gang in the last 2 shows was one of the “Space Monkeys” in _Fight Club_, the one who coined the phrase “His name is Robert Paulson.” It had been driving me crazy for two weeks where I knew him from. Recently watching _Hot Fuzz_, I was trying to figure out where I knew the sweet little old flower shop lady from. Suddenly I realized - she’s the Plasmavore from _Doctor Who_ episode _Smith & Jones_. Gah! Just saw the above! D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/19 "2007-10-03T17:12:58Z")
I was recently watching an episode of _Hill Street Blues_ when it dawned on me that the leader of the Irish “Shamrocks” gang was none other than a very young **David Caruso**! And, speaking of **CSI:Miami** , isn’t Horatio’s newly discovered son the same kid who played Jack’s nephew last season on **24**? **Dennis Haysbert** ( **The Unit, 24** ) was the Hispanic second baseman in **Major League**. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342/20 "2007-10-03T19:24:37Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] I was very surprised to discover that the prosecuting attorney from _The Untouchables_ is also one of the bosses in _Cool Hand Luke_ (“There’s no playing grab-ass or fighting in the building. You got a grudge against another man, you fight him Saturday afternoon. Any man playing grab-ass or fighting in the building spends a night in the box.”) … Clifton James. [/QUOTE] [Cool Hand Luke](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061512/) is one of those movies with a cast that seems to be entirely populated with “Hey, It’s That Guy(s)!” In addition to the star Paul Newman and best supporting oscar winner George Kennedy, there’s Strother Martin (“What we have here is failure to communicate.”), JD Cannon, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, Joe Don Baker (“Mitchell!”) and a lot of other faces that are familiar even if their names aren’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heys-its-that-guy/421342.md?page=2)