# So that's who that guy is - sudden recognition of actors. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188 "2010-01-16T12:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/21 "2010-01-17T07:46:14Z")
I had a couple recognitions from those two guys from Numb3rs. David Krumholtz and Peter MacNicol. Now I knew both actors from previous work, but I didn’t realize at first that they had both been in Addams Family Values together until I caught it on cable. Also, I knew Peter MacNicol had been in Ally McBeal, but I had know idea he was the lead in [Dragonslayer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonslayer). ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/22 "2010-01-17T10:48:26Z")
**Chefguy** : Scotty Doesn’t Know from [Eurotrip](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356150/). ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/23 "2010-01-18T21:30:01Z")
I was watching Batman Begins the other week. Towards the end of the movie when the train is headed for the city’s water supply, a technician makes several comments about it. I guy looked really familiar. Than it hit me. “This R2 unit of yours is a little beat up. Want a new one?” Fellow by the name of Shane Rimmer. He also played the American sub commander in The Spy Who Loved Me. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/24 "2010-01-18T22:51:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Jim and I have sort of a running competition to see who can ID the actors/voices first. I think he’s up a couple on me (I’m good at faces but not names - “Hey, it’s that girl from that show!”), but I’ve pulled some obscure ones out of the hat. Mr. S and I have the same running competition – only we have to come up with a LINE from the other performance to get full credit. In other words, we can’t just say, “It’s that guy from the parking garage in _Ferris Bueller_”; we have to say (with proper inflection), “What country do you think this IS?” ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/25 "2010-01-18T23:51:45Z")
My girlfriend and I caught one of the scenes in Dragonwyck on TCM this past weekend and she immediately recognized Harry Morgan. I coudn’t believe it. He was 31 and had a full head of hair and a beard, but it was him as confirmed by imdb. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/26 "2010-01-19T00:01:42Z")
My husband won’t even compete with me in the “identify the actor” game, because he knows I’ll beat the pants off him every time. My personal best (that I remember, anyway), was a couple of years ago. I was watching a Miss Marple on PBS (“The Sittaford Mystery”) and I recognized one of the secondary characters. He was so familiar… and then it hit me: he was the Albino in _The Princess Bride_! I am still quite proud of that one - I haven’t seen any of his other work. I watch a lot of shows that have a character-of-the-week (House, all of the Law & Order shows, etc.), so that’s muddying my identifying ability somewhat (“she looks familiar…” and then I look her up on IMDB and discover that she was on some episode of SVU 7 years ago). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/27 "2010-01-19T00:46:51Z")
> [@stargazer](#): > > My personal best (that I remember, anyway), was a couple of years ago. I was watching a Miss Marple on PBS (“The Sittaford Mystery”) and I recognized one of the secondary characters. He was so familiar… and then it hit me: he was the Albino in _The Princess Bride_! I am still quite proud of that one - I haven’t seen any of his other work. Mel Smith is a very famous comedian in the UK. He also occasionally directs, though nothing too exciting (he directed the first _Mr Bean_ movie, for example). Whenever I watch _Chuck_, it has a cavalcade of actors often deliberately cast for their geeky/cult work in the past. It’s fun to pick out what each did that might have brought them into the show. So there are obvious ones like Tricia Helfer (_Battlestar Galactica_), Bruce Boxleitner (_Tron, Scarecrow and Mrs King_), and Gary Cole (_Office Space, Midnight Caller, Brady Bunch_ movie), but then you get the slightly more obscure ones like James Hong (_Big Trouble in Little China_ amongst many others), Arnold Vosloo (_The Mummy_), and Vinnie Jones (_Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels_), to the outright nerdy, like Reginald VelJohnson reprising his character from _Die Hard_, Jed Rees from _Galaxy Quest_, and Michael Clarke Duncan, from tons of stuff really but the geekiest one I can think of is _Daredevil_. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/28 "2010-01-19T01:17:28Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > I was watching Batman Begins the other week. Towards the end of the movie when the train is headed for the city’s water supply, a technician makes several comments about it. > > I guy looked really familiar. Than it hit me. > > “This R2 unit of yours is a little beat up. Want a new one?” > > Fellow by the name of Shane Rimmer. He also played the American sub commander in The Spy Who Loved Me. Shane Rimmer? _Shane Rimmer!?_ He was my “it’s that guy” for years. _Rollerball_, _Dr. Strangelove_, and a couple other Bonds. But if we’re playing **Scarlett** ’s quote game… “That armor plating must be inches thick.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/29 "2010-01-19T01:37:20Z")
> [@Foldup\_Rabbit](#): > > **Chefguy** : Scotty Doesn’t Know from [Eurotrip](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356150/). Right. Very funny bit. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/30 "2010-01-19T01:58:36Z")
I was re-watching **Trainspotting** recently. It occurred to me that I knew [Tommy](http://desolationtown.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/trainspotting460.jpg) (2nd from the right) from somewhere, but he looked older and heftier. Finally it hit me: “[Holy shit!](http://www.hbo.com/rome/img/cast/character/season2/character_luciusvorenus.jpg)” I was also watching **Frequency** recently, and had another “Holy Shit” moment when I realized that his friend’s son was…[Michael Cera](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuA-PfUK60w), twelve years old. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/31 "2010-01-19T03:23:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Rewatching _Full Metal Jacket_, I suddenly realized that Pyle was none other than Vincent D’Onofrio carrying about 30 extra pounds. And as a counter point, if you watch **Adventures in Babysitting** , you’ll find him so toned down and buff as Thor (with longish hair too!), you may not recognize him at all. For me is was re-watching **Waiting** and finding the kid who was the new awkward server to now be Sweets on _Bones_. He must be geeky no matter what he does. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/32 "2010-01-19T03:31:00Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I was just watching _Harold and Kumar go to White Castle_ on TV and realized that _Freakshow_ is played by Christopher Meloni (_Elliot Stabler_ from _Law & Order: SVU_). Huh. I could have \*sworn \*he was played by Jaime Kennedy. I was just describing that whole scene to a friend the other day. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/33 "2010-01-19T13:19:23Z")
Jaime Kennedy was the guy peeing in the bushes next to Kumar. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/34 "2010-01-19T14:33:20Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Since both Oz and the Law and Order franchises filmed in the New York area there was a lot of cast crossover. Christopher Meloni, J.K. Simmons, B.D. Wong and Kathryn Erbe were all regulars on Oz and also one of the L&Os. I’m sure I’m missing someone. _Every_ actor who was on 40+ episodes of Oz has been on at least one, if not more episodes of one, if not more, of the L&O franchises with the exception of Eamonn Walker (Said). Click through the cast list on IMDb sometime, it’s astounding. That said, [Dean Winters](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0935921/), was on the squad on L&O:SVU during the entire first (abbreviated) season. [Kirk Acevedo](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009716/) was one of the regular investigators on the short-lived L&O: Trial by Jury. And we can’t forget Rita Moreno’s recurrent role on L&O: CI as Goren’s mother. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188/35 "2010-01-19T16:02:11Z")
I’ve had this moment twice with the same actor. When I went to see Twilight the “dad” vampire was extremely familiar looking and so I looked him up afterwards, and realised - :smack: - it’s [Peter Facinelli](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Facinelli) (aka Claire’s hot friend in Six Feet Under). Then I was watching Damages over the weekend and thought one of the minor characters was extremely hot and slightly familiar looking, and so looked him up to be told it was - :smack: - Peter Facinelli. I have no doubt it’ll happen again with the same actor. I’m also currently watching Being Human on BBC3 and had a “I know you” moment with a character, and it turned out she was Lyndsey Marshall who played Cleopatra in HBO’s Rome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-thats-who-that-guy-is-sudden-recognition-of-actors/525188.md?page=1)