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

[supertrav77]

Educate yourself by figuring out who an actor or actress that you've seen a million times is but never knew the name of. Then post a picture and where you knew them from.

John C. Reilly

Anyway, I used to always call this guy "that one guy from Boogie Nights". Although he's got a new movie coming out that he stars in. I imagine his name will be common knowledge soon.

 

[echo off]

/whois the mexican?

Danny Trejo
IMDB also informs me that he and Robert Rodriguez are second-cousins. Good thread idea

 

[SonOF]

for a while I didn't know this guy's name....."You know...that guy...he's like in every movie, but he's not the star...ummm he was in Fargo...umm goddamn it!"

William H. Macy

 

[L2R]

nice thread! i'll contribute when i figure some names out

 

[ego_loss]

grr... you people need to get out and watch more movies.

John C Reilly is a great actor. He's been in plenty of movies where he had pretty substantial rolls. Hard Eight (aka: Sydney) is a perfect example.

Danny Trejo has been in movies for decades. Granted, he almost always plays the same damn roll in all of them, but he DOES have range (Check him out in David Byrne's tabloid opus "True Stories" playing the accordion)

And William H Macy... come on. Fargo really brought him into the limelight, but the man has made some of my favorite films.

Sorry if I sound like I'm being a dick. I'm not trying to. I just feel that any time I see a movie and someone in it really stands out, I make it a point to learn the actors name. Then when they show up in another movie I can be like "Yeah, that guy was in such-n-such a movie".

Kind of on the same subject of the topic, I am currently compiling a list for my movie blog of actors that have what I call "The Buscemi Effect"... actors like Buscemi and the others listed above who have been around for a long time, working in some really great movies, but who seem to be missing that "big break" that makes them a real "A list" celeb. So, keep this thread going... I could use some ideas.

 

[captainballs]

I like how no one knows who WIlliam H. Macy is. Honestly, even though I've seen Fargo a few times, I totally didn't know who to think of when the words "William H. Macy" hit my ear, until David Lynch's last flick forced me to place a face with a name. Strange stuff - such a good name, too. Has a nice ring to it.

 

[Carl Landrover]

That woman who always plays such a convincing bitch:



Beth Grant

Off the top of my head I can think of Donnie Darko, Little Miss Sunshine, The Frighteners, A Time to Kill, among others.

 

[alasdairm]

i hear you steve! william h. macy is an emmy-winning and oscar-nominated actor

great thread idea - i shall contribute when i think of a few.

alasdair

 

[supertrav77]

Here's another one

Someone I always used to call "the principle from Ferris Bueller's Day Off".

Jeffrey Jones
Was also a minor character in Deadwood, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Devils Advocate, etc.

 

[randycaver]

LOL@Beth Grant, she was the woman who got run over by the bus in Speed! i couldn't stand her

 

[JerryBlunted]

IIRC Jeffrey Jones got busted in a porno theater a la Pee Wee Herman.

 

[His Name Is Frank]

grr... you people need to get out and watch more movies.

John C Reilly is a great actor. He's been in plenty of movies where he had pretty substantial rolls. Hard Eight (aka: Sydney) is a perfect example.

Danny Trejo has been in movies for decades. Granted, he almost always plays the same damn roll in all of them, but he DOES have range (Check him out in David Byrne's tabloid opus "True Stories" playing the accordion)

And William H Macy... come on. Fargo really brought him into the limelight, but the man has made some of my favorite films.

Sorry if I sound like I'm being a dick. I'm not trying to. I just feel that any time I see a movie and someone in it really stands out, I make it a point to learn the actors name. Then when they show up in another movie I can be like "Yeah, that guy was in such-n-such a movie".

Kind of on the same subject of the topic, I am currently compiling a list for my movie blog of actors that have what I call "The Buscemi Effect"... actors like Buscemi and the others listed above who have been around for a long time, working in some really great movies, but who seem to be missing that "big break" that makes them a real "A list" celeb. So, keep this thread going... I could use some ideas.

Yeah. You don't sound like a dick(and because I know you'll come back and quote me,"Hisnameisfrank is my favorite bluelighter!")so much as you do a know-it-all. Those three may be common knowledge to movie lovers such as you and me,but try showing their pics to as many people as you can and see how many can't name any of them. They may recognize them and be able to tell you a few of their movies,but most people only know the names of actors if they are shoved down our throats(Tom Hanks,Mel Gibson,Tom Cruise)

 

[ego_loss]

Yeah. You don't sound like a dick... so much as you do a know-it-all.

I'm a know it all because I stay to watch the credits?

IMHO, if you are watching a movie and some aspect of it really stands out... an actor, a musical score, a song, a shot, a sound effect... whatever... you should then sit and watch the credits to learn the name of the actor, the composer, the artist, the director of photography, the foley artist... whatever.

If you pay attention to these names, you might be surprised how many times you see them pop up across various productions.

 

[supertrav77]

Not obscure enough? How about this guy!

Frank McHugh

I've seen this cat play meandering drunk guys in Warner Brother pre-code films. He was the female lead's brother in "Gold Diggers of 1935", the dance instructor in Footlight Parade and some random alcoholic guy that the male lead would banter with in Millie. Apparently, he was in Four Daughters but I did not recognize him in that.

 

[DarthMom]

[edited]


here is a good one! brad dourif. i couldn't think of any, so googled to contribute to the thread. i will think of some more later.

http://www.q7.com/~cramsay/obscure/dourif.html

 

[SonOF]

grr... you people need to get out and watch more movies.

John C Reilly is a great actor. He's been in plenty of movies where he had pretty substantial rolls. Hard Eight (aka: Sydney) is a perfect example.

Danny Trejo has been in movies for decades. Granted, he almost always plays the same damn roll in all of them, but he DOES have range (Check him out in David Byrne's tabloid opus "True Stories" playing the accordion)

And William H Macy... come on. Fargo really brought him into the limelight, but the man has made some of my favorite films.

Sorry if I sound like I'm being a dick. I'm not trying to. I just feel that any time I see a movie and someone in it really stands out, I make it a point to learn the actors name. Then when they show up in another movie I can be like "Yeah, that guy was in such-n-such a movie".
.

Damn, movie snob alert. I see tons of films, watch and study them but sometimes I just don't remember an actor's name. Even if I go look it up, sometimes a name just doesn't stick with me.

I understand that William H. Macy is a great actor, but if you ask 10 people on the street who he is, I'd say probably one would know. I know he is far from obscure to anyone in the movie business, but I just didn't remember his name for a bit. I swear I'll never forget again, for both Macy's and your sake.

It's the same with music for me. Sometimes I will be really into a band, know all of their music, know lyrics, history of the band, their influences or whatever, but maybe, just maybe I won't be able to remember the bassist's name. I don't think this makes me any less of a fan, maybe just a dude with a selective memory.

 

[SonOF]

Probably best know for his awesome work as "Stringer Bell" on HBO's The Wire, this guy has been popping up in a lot of films lately as a character actor (American Gangster, 28 Weeks Later, The Reaping, etc.).

Idris Elba

Another actor from one of my favorite HBO series' of all-time, he played "Augustus Hill" on OZ (the black guy in the wheelchair who gives monologues at the beginning and end of each episode). He also did great work in the television series Lost, and lots of smaller movie roles (28 Weeks Later, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded).

Harold Perrineau

sorry if these guys are not obscure enough for you entertainment buffs/snobs.

 

[ego_loss]

[edited]

[edited]

Yes, that's right. I'm being a dick. That is 100% correct. I'm a know it all dick because I am suggesting that people pay a little more attention when they view a movie.

When you go out to a restaurant and you try a dish for the first time and you really enjoy it... or you really hate it, chances are you will remember what it is called so that, in the future, you can either have it again or avoid it.

When you turn on the radio and you hear a song that catches your ear, I'll bet you remember the name of the band... or at least you remember enough to think "I should find out more about that band when I get home".

Like I said before, I'm sorry if I sound like a dick. I'm not trying to put anyone down. I'm actually trying to sound as civil and rational as possible here (which you all must admit shows some growth) and I'm being treated the same as when I WAS intentionally being the asshole movie snob. Makes me wonder why I try.

And back to the subject, Brad Dourif's best work is in really shitty movies (Lord of the Rings doesn't count). He was in this awful detective caper with Ewan McGregor and Nick Nolte called Nightwatch. He stole the show as the creepy mortician.

 

[echo off]

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

The Candyman is "Tony Todd"

 

[tambourine-man]

LOL@Beth Grant, she was the woman who got run over by the bus in Speed! i couldn't stand her

She specialises in playing annoying bitches.

He asked me to forcibly insert the Lifeline exercise card into my anus!!! :D

Okay...

Michael McKean

Stephen Tobolowsky

Vincent Schiavelli