Actors You've Seen A Million Times But Never Knew The Name Of... Until today!

[alasdairm]

both these guys are well-known to me now but there was a time they would crop up all over the place and i had no idea who they were:

william fichtner

john c. mcginley

alasdair

 

[tribal girl]

Dabney Coleman

I would see him in loads of stuff, but had no idea what his name was until I recently watched Nine To Five.

 

[PinholeStar]

CCH Pounder

Nearly ALWAYS plays the tough but wise FBI agent/high-ranking police officer, & she's a damn fine actress too.

Delroy Lindo

David Morse

JT Walsh (it is NOT "TJ" Walsh. Only a fool would make that mistake)

When your life flashes before you at the time of your death, I'm absolutely certain that these guys will crop up & make several cameo appearances, such is their ubiquity.

 

[PinholeStar]

Stephen Tobolowsky

NED RYERSON! :D

 

[felix]

^^ it's JT Walsh, by the way.

get it right, foo'

 

[PinholeStar]

Some guys who have made a living playing "the bad guy":

Kim Coates

Dennis Farina (One of my favourites)

Miguel Ferrer

And you KNOW you've all seen this guy about:

Michael J. Hagerty

That's all I can think of for the time being.

 

[alasdairm]

NED RYERSON! :D

probably my favourite comedy of all time...

how about this guy:

brian doyle murray

related reading: the brian doyle murray appreciation thread

alasdair

 

[supertrav77]

brian doyle murray

related reading: the brian doyle murray appreciation thread

I only know who that guy is because he used to be the Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live.

 

[ego_loss]

Ewan McGregor was in Nightwatch? rofl, i guess that creepy mortician really did steal the show.

Not the recent Russian vampire Nightwatch. The Ewan Mcgregor film was from 96 or 97.

The Candyman is "Tony Todd"

For a GREAT example of Tony Todd doing some straight dramatic work, check out "The Man From Earth". He was one of the best characters in the film.

 

[His Name Is Frank]

Phillip Seymour Hoffman
He's becoming more and more known due to his acting ability and picking great scripts(not so much the latest MI movie)but he's still not even close to being a household name.

James Duval
Mainly likes to do independant movies,but is Frank in my favorite movie,Donnie Darko. Not enough room in the world for two Keanu Reeves,I guess.
[edit]

 

[L2R]

pinholestar, those are some great examples. :D

 

[tambourine-man]

I this thread! :D

Lane Smith

Bruce McGill

James Rebhorn (far right... not Data and not Bill "I-act-with-my-nostrils" Pullman)

 

[tambourine-man]

And you KNOW you've all seen this guy about:

Michael J. Hagerty

Hahah!

He always plays a working-class, slob loser.

He was in Red Heat, I think.

 

[PinholeStar]

This is becoming an obsession!

How about these guys:

Al Leong (AKA "The Asian Danny Trejo". I swear this guy was in just about every 80's action movie that called for a Far-Eastern badass. As if to prove his tough-guy credentials, here he is taking a crap on the Hollywood sign:

Michael Ironside (Scanners, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, the voice of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher + countless TV work)

William Devane (You've seen him)

Joe Viterelli (ALWAYS plays a mob boss)

I can't believe I've spent an hour of my Saturday afternoon scouring the internet for names & pictures of these guys.

tambo: Lane Smith is an awesome find!

 

[tambourine-man]

Al Leong (AKA "The Asian Danny Trejo". I swear this guy was in just about every 80's action movie that called for a Far-Eastern badass. As if to prove his tough-guy credentials, here he is taking a crap on the Hollywood sign:

Haha! No way!

I once called him "the rent-a-chink man" due to his appearance in every 80's flick. My half-Chinese girlfriend didn't laugh. He was in Die Hard as well, I think.

Good call on William Devane. I always thought he was awesome. Just acts like someone who you wouldn't want to fuck with.

 

[PinholeStar]

lmfao @ "rent-a-chink man"

 

[felix]

I once called him "the rent-a-chink man" due to his appearance in every 80's flick. My half-Chinese girlfriend didn't laugh.

I bet she didn't. 8)

Just cos you're g/f is 'half-chinese', it doesn't absolve you, you know???

(mwahaha )

 

[tambourine-man]

Bahah! :D

The "rent-a-chink man" will live forever in our hearts.

William Atherton (otherwise known as Walter Peck... or Walter Pecker... lol)

Danny Aiello

 

[goatofthenever]

Neal McDonough

 

[BoogieShoes]

Face with a name

Catherine O'Hara

She's been in so many movies -- best known to me as the mom in Home Alone -- such as Beetle Juice, Orange County, A Series of Unfortunate events; guest starred on the show Six Feet Under; did voices in Over the Hedge, Chicken Little, The Nightmare Before Christmas. I could never remember her name though!

I have informed a couple people of what John C. Reilly's name was in the past. I remember reading this interview with him when he was promoting Talladega Nights about all of the movies he's been in, doing supporting/character roles, and he can still walk around on the street unrecognized. There must be something both awesome and kind of disappointing about that.