What lesser known (I hesitate to use the term “B-list”) actors do you think are so talented that they automatically raise the quality of the production just by showing up on set? I suppose the term would be “character actor,” but that term evokes images of stuffy method-acting fogeys to me. I’m really not sure what to call 'em. They’re usually the guys you see in everything, but whom most people couldn’t really name.
Anyhow, three actors I can think of off the top of my head fit the bill to me. There are probably many more.
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John C. McGinley - I see this guy EVERYWHERE. “Scrubs,” “Office Space,” “Platoon,” and a million other movies/shows I don’t remember right now. He’s awesome, and I couldn’t have told you his name before I looked it up in IMDB.
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[- Total acting genius. He can do anything. Extremely intense as Schillinger, brilliant as J. Jonah Jameson. He convincingly steals the show in every single scene he plays in, regardless of his role.
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[url=“http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001724/”]Tony Shalhoub](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0799777/"J.K. Simmons[/url) - I first saw him in “Wings,” but he just classes up any set he’s on. He was easily the best thing about “Galaxy Quest,” and he had serious competition from (the ever-brilliant) Alan Rickman. I’ll watch a movie for no other reason than it has Tony Shalhoub in it.