# Your favorite character actor. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479 "2002-12-04T17:26:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/41 "2002-12-05T23:55:29Z")
Another vote for Leo McKern. I can’t agree with **Sampiro** about David Ogden Stiers. IMO the roles I’ve seen him do after M_A_S\*H have been pretty stiff, boring and forgettable. Does Dennis Franz qualify? True, he played the Sipowicz character on Hill Street Blues as well as NYPD Blue. But damn, that’s a great character and his performance is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/42 "2002-12-06T01:53:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KidCharlemagne \* > \*\*He is fantastic but I don’t know that I would classify him as a character actor as much as an underappreciated one. > \*\* Regarding Philip Symour Hoffman, he is the definition of a character actor in my mind. Yes, he will have a leading role from time to time, but how would you define his roles in _Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski,_ or _Almost Famous_? BTWIMHO Oliver Platt or Vincent d’Onofrio would be terrific as Ignatius P. Riley. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/43 "2002-12-06T02:41:41Z")
Nobody’s mentioned Christopher Walken yet? Shocking. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/44 "2002-12-06T03:10:09Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Sampiro_ > > He’d be good, but I think I’d go with Oliver Platt. > > [hijack1]I’d also love to see Lynn Redgrave as Ignatius’s mother, Joe Pesci as Patrolman Mancuso, Anna Nicole Smith as the stripper, and Lily Tomlin as Santa Battaglia.[/hijack1] > > [hijack2]Have you read Ignatius Rising , the new Toole biography? His mother’s letters were incredible- you know instantly where he got Ignatius’s writing style.[/hijack2 I like your casting choices, especially Lily Tomlin as Santa, but how can you forget about Jones? My suggestion, Delroy Lindo (Samuel L. Jackson would also be cool.) Other suggestions: Eugene Levy and Katherine O’Hara as Mr. and Mrs. Levy. According to IMDB, Drew Barrymore has already been cast in a part for the movie, but it doesn’t say what character. (I’m guessing the stripper) She is also one of the producers. [This site](http://www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/374055) Says that Hoffman is rumored to be the guy to play Ignatius. No word on any other casting. I haven’t read _Ignatius Rising_, but I intend to. The reviews look good. I know this is all off topic but I just love _Confederacy of Dunces_. The movie talk should probably have its own thread though. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/45 "2002-12-06T06:45:21Z")
**Percy Helton** the little bent over guy with the round face and particular wheezy voice. A great bunch of other nominations at [This previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=87856) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/46 "2002-12-06T15:23:53Z")
I gotta give a shout out to Thelma Ritter. She was the best. Mercedes McCambridge runs a close second but might move into first place if she ever answered one of my fan letters. (of course if Thelma Ritter ever answered one of my fan letters she’d be the undisputed best forever) ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/47 "2002-12-06T17:33:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*Who was the guy with the mullet in the convenience store in _Ghost World_? That guy was awsome \*\* It’s been awhile since I saw _Ghost World_ - do you mean the clerk (Brad Renfro) or the weird guy who had the boombox (don’t know who he was)? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/48 "2002-12-06T17:53:56Z")
Yeah, the weird guy. that guy rocked. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/49 "2002-12-06T19:54:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*Who was the guy with the mullet in the convenience store in _Ghost World_? That guy was awsome? \*\* According to the screenwriters of **Ghost World** (Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff): > [@](#): > > We wre first introduced to the work of Dave Sheridan (“Doug”) by Mike Judge, whom when we first me him had just received an unsolicited video tape of Dave’s greatest hits (Judge was somehow involved in the project early on). We were floored not only by how funny the guy was, but by his unbelievable (and extremely foolish) bravery. In one of his taped bits, he dressed up as “Condom Man”, a nerdish safe-sex advocate wearing a giant white condom (which looked uncomfortably like a Klan hood) and went to a Black Muslim rally, where he shouted, “Save sex!” to the hostile crowd in a nasal voice over a bull horn! In another bit, he dressed up as a female prostitute and prowled the streets of a pre-Giuliani New York. Best of all, however, was his flawless portrayl of a white-trash moron from Delaware, a character who came to supplant the generic “Customer Number One” in the Sidewinder scenes during our next revision of the script. More than you wanted to know, probably. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/50 "2002-12-06T21:43:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*I know this is all off topic but I just love _Confederacy of Dunces_. The movie talk should probably have its own thread though. \*\* [Agreed.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148580) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/51 "2002-12-06T21:53:23Z")
Well, it used to be Jeffrey Jones, until, well, you know. So a big second to David Strathairn, instead. If you couldn’t tell, I like actors who do a whole lot with not very much. For that reason, I considered nominating Morgan Freeman as a character actor who gets leading roles. He’s simply brilliant in _Nurse Betty._ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/52 "2002-12-06T22:04:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*I considered nominating Morgan Freeman as a character actor who gets leading roles. He’s simply brilliant in _Nurse Betty._ \*\* SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER For some reason, the way he says “My son is dead…” in that movie just almost brought a lump to my throat. And in GLORY he was even better. ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/53 "2002-12-06T23:11:30Z")
**John C. Reilly** was the first to come to mind when I read this thread. I don’t think he’s been mentioned yet, which truly surprises me. I also enjoy the work of **Stellan Skarsgard**. I’ll second the mentions of **David Strathairn** , **William H. Macy** , and **Phillip Seymour Hoffman**. ---
**Author:** ![Alexei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Alexei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alexei)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/54 "2002-12-07T00:19:08Z")
[Bill Paxton](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Paxton,+Bill) [Steve Buscemi](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Buscemi,+Steve) ---
**Author:** ![moonchilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@moonchilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonchilde)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/55 "2002-12-07T00:26:16Z")
Tho he is now in starring roles…Tony Shaloub. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/56 "2002-12-07T01:22:00Z")
What? No Harry Dean Stanton people? He and Dan Hedaya are two of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479/57 "2002-12-08T02:59:06Z")
I’m also surprised Gailard Sartain hasn’t come up. It takes a lot of talent to survive the Ernest movies. At one time I’d have said John Rhys Davies, but he’s sullied himself by joining the Anything for a Buck School of Acting. (LoTR is one of his few decent projects in recent years.) Does James Earl Jones count as a character actor? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/140479.md?page=2)