In the Drive Angry Thread, William Fichtner is mentioned as being a highlight of the film.
I haven’t seen Drive Angry, but damn it if that always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride career supporting actor isn’t ALWAYS all kinds of awesome no matter how small his role.
Armageddon was on T.V. the other day. I had forgotten he was in it. I was delighted when he walked on screen. I loved him in Date Night. In a one-episode-only appearance, he played one of the best characters ever on The West Wing.
He might have been the absolute best thing about The Dark Night (and I say that as someone who loved The Dark Night).
I considered making this a poll, but there’s a lot that he’s done that I haven’t seen, so I’d be sure to leave something off the poll choices that other people would want to vote for- there are some recurring character roles on T.V. shows that I’ve never watched: Entourage, Prison Break, Invasion.
Anyway, the man raisies the qualitiy of every work he appears in.
His turn in Prison Break, believe it or not, is my favorite. The show spiraling around him was pretty silly, but he himself was fantastic and really elevated the material.
Here’s a taste of how believable and compelling he was…and this is just a deleted scene. (NOTE: I’m using the link to the pop-up video player because if you watch this at the youtube site itself there’s a major series spoiler in the “suggested videos” frame. For me, the video just pops up as another tab in Firefox.)
I agree, I like seeing Fichtner in just about everything, and he was really good in Crapageddon … I mean, Armageddon.
I also really enjoyed his performance in Contact, as the blind scientist who had the awesome hearing skills, finding the clues in the radio signal from outer space.
I haven’t seen Contact in a really long time, and I was trying really hard to remember his character when I saw it on his imdb page. Your description is bringing it back to memory.
He had kind of an unrequited crush on Jodie Foster’s character (not as a significant plot point, though) right? He was soft-spoken and sweet- so unlike a lot of the roles his gets cast in. Memory is still hazy, but that’s what’s coming to mind.
Yeah, this guy is good.
Anyone know how he pronounces his last name?
FISHT-ner
FICKT-ner
FIKE-tner?
Does the ‘t’ get rolled over? I find that ‘t’ to be troublesome. I wanna go right from the ‘ch’ (be it hard or soft) into the ‘n’. Pronouncing the ‘t’ is hard for me.
I loved him as the narc in Doug Limon’s Go. Scary tough one minute, selling Amway the next, your perception of him keeps changing throughout the film, just as your perception of all the events and characters keep changing. It’s a good film too, with lots of actor you maybe recognize now but didn’t then. It’s one of those movies where you have to pay strict attention or don’t even bother trying to watch it.
I agree. I actually loved the show as well, but his turn was a major component in it. I would even go so far as to say if he hadn’t been introduced in Season 2, the show wouldn’t have lasted until Season 4.
Even from the beginning of his career, before he started working in major films, he was really good. Waaay back in the late 80s/early 90s, he was on the soap “As The World Turns”, playing a stranger who went to work as the stableboy of the local rich bitch. As it turned out, he was actually the rich bitch’s adopted daughter’s father, with someone he thought was his cousin. Huge, big secret. Majorly over the top, in general. But Fichtner SHONE in the role…he had an obvious talent and gravity that kind of dwarfed the rest of the cast’s. I’ve always kind of felt like “I knew about him way before he got famous” because my mother and I used to watch that soap at the time.
I first noticed him when he appeared on Grace under Fire with Brett Butler. Of course, I loved Brett’s sense of humor and sarcasm, but Fichtner stood up to her and made that sitcom better than a lot of other shows on the air.
Incidentally, Fichtner’s not the only star that came out of ATWT. I feel kind of the same (undeserved) proprietary feeling for Meg Ryan and Marisa Tomei, who also were on ATWT before they hit it big.
“Well then give me a couple of your shooters and I’ll circle us around to the bird”. (Or something like that).
When he says this line the expression on his face is perfect - practically saying “This is complete bullshit, but what the fuck I’m gonna get this done.”
