With the sad passing of J.T. Walsh, the most visible “That Guy!” crown has pretty much been up for grabs. Is there anyone today that stands out more than the rest of the "That Guy!"s?
Christopher Walken and William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi are probably the most well known character actors, but they’re also pretty famous in their own right, so they’re out.
But if I had to guess, I’d say Xander Berkeley (Mason from 24) is the new king. He shows up in a lot and his voice, if not his face, always gives him away.
+1 on James Hong. He’s been That Chinese Guy in as many movies as there are Chinese people (acknowledging Hong is born and raised American.) He’s even the go-to Chinese guy for voice work when they don’t technically need a Chinese actor. Which is funny because, being from the Twin Cities, he has to put on a Chinese accent. His agent must be on speed dial. “We need a Chinese guy. Get the guy who played Lo Pan.”
There’s a guy who’s never been a household name but he must have a bazillion dollars by now. He deserves it, because “Big Trouble in Little China” was awesome.
Flipping through the channels I stopped to watch TMZ (if I watched it regularly I would admit it, the way it is edited gives me a headache). For some reason they had a segment where they showed James Hong walking down the street and the camera crew tried to interview him. He sounded like Lo Pan, accent and everything. Afterwards Harvey Levin pointed out that he was born in Minnesota and the accent had to be a put on.
That guy to me will be M. Emmet Walshas long as he is still breathing.
Heh - every time he shows up on the screen, Mr. singular and I always say “-he’s got a sandwich in one hand and the fuckin’ head in the other!” It’s Pavlovian.
It’s Pavlovian.