For as long as I can remember (grade school days for sure) I’ve been one of those people (I’ve only met a handful of others over the years) who make it a point of knowing the names and pertinent details of minor character actors in every movie or TV show I’ve seen. IMDb was a godsend for those with my curiosity about people in the entertainment business.
There are only a few others I’ve known (and I’ve spotted a number of them here!)
who pride themselves on that sort of trivia. It’s a true thrill to meet somebody else
who can name the actors in an old serial or minor TV show.
It really bothers me when I can’t place a name and have to resort to the “that guy” approach to identifying a particular player.
And that applies to radio actors, too, whose voices I can usually attach a name to. There was a guy I knew in my acting days (a fellow actor) who was even better at names of obscure types than I was. It was fun trying to stump each other by knowing not just the name but some of their credits for even obscure types.
I’d be well suited temperamentally working for IMDb or the sort of place where that
interest (or even skill) would come into play. As it is, I enjoy bumping into others whose knowledge of the obscure player in the obscure show or movie is better than my own. It’s fun game to play with a real expert in the field!
I look up a lot of people I see in shows. My problem is that I usually can’t remember what I read. If I’ve looked up a person multiple times, then I might have a chance of remembering their name, even if their details have passed through my brain without sticking.
As mentioned upthread, he was one of the “terrorists” in Die Hard. His best scene is when they are about to ambush the SWAT team: he’s down in the lobby hiding behind a concession stand. After a beat, he reaches in and snags a couple of chocolate bars. It’s a hilarious deadpan moment.
Go check out Lake Placid. Oliver delivers one of the best comeback lines ever:
Sheriff: “I never heard of an alligator swimming across an ocean.”
Oliver: “Well, y’know, they hide that sort of information in BOOKS!”
I was watching Person of Interest, where he plays Simmons, the imposing second in command of HR, a city wide gang of crooked cops. Where had I seen that craggy face before?
Some surprising places: he has major roles in almost the entire oeuvre of former indie darling Hal Hartley. I dimly remember thinking he was SOO cool in Intolerable Truth and Simple Men. He played general (later defsec) Mattis in Generation Kill. He has a host of small roles I dont really remember in movies/series I have seen. And a major role in Gossip Girl, any word of advice whether it is worth checking out? [
I wouldn’t say I"m quite that far gone, but I do recognize some folks who aren’t household names. I tend to have moments when I’m watching some show or movie and there’ll be some actor I recognize. Sometimes I remember what other role I’ve seen them in…
Sometimes I have to look them up on IMDb, and then I’ll remember their real name. It happens a lot when I’m watching Law & Order and when I look them up, 8 times out of 10 it’s from another episode of Law & Order.
Since someone mentioned Al Leong from Big Trouble in Little China, I’ll mention Kate Burton who played Margo. Apparently, it’s possible to become “that guy” even when you’re the daughter of Richard Burton.
My ultimate female “that guy” was Arlene Martel. She was in everything back in the '60s and '70s, but I’d seen her in a bunch of roles before I even noticed. (I hope that’s considered a high compliment for a “that guy”.) She is TV science-fiction royalty; played Spock’s fiancee in “Amok Time” on Star Trek, and the cleaning woman who befriends Trent in “Demon With a Glass Hand” on The Outer Limits.
She so reminds me of Glenne Headly, I was shocked to see how well Glenne held up when I saw her on The Big Bang Theory. Sadly, Glenne has passed away. And no, it wasn’t Glenne on TBBT, it was Judy Greer.
For me it’s Stephen Lang. He’s done major supporting roles (Avatar) and some leads in smaller films. But it seems that he is always just under the line of being recognizable.
As star or character actor, he never lets the eye wander.
Jo Shishido “…is a Japanese actor most recognizable for his intense, eccentric yakuza film roles and his artificially enlarged cheekbones.”
Back in the '60s, this dude was as cool as they come starring in low-budget, inventive gangster films where he was inevitably betrayed and had to get revenge. Later did lots of TV and movie character roles.
No one ever forgets Michael Berryman:
I wonder why he hasn’t gotten more leading roles. It would be interesting to see him in a rom-com.
In the 1970s you couldn’t watch a TV series without eventually running across Bradford Dillman playing a businessman or peripheral police boss. Just look at 1975 alone!
Ann Dowd. Now appearing in The Handmaid’s Tale. Appeared not only in all three major Law and Orders (as a different character each time), but was also in Trial by Jury. She played a very different character each time.
I was watching an ep of Law & Order once and thought I recognized the actress playing a dominatrix. Looked her up on IMDb and she was in another L&O as a ex-nun who killed a girl during an exorcism she performed after hearing the voice of St. Michael.
