Best Character Actors

A character actor is someone who is always cast in bit or supporting parts, but who can play a different person in every movie, and do it convincingly.

 

well then...

how bout that "squooshie nootches" homeboy in kevin smith's movies?

 

Ben Johnson is definitely in the character actor Hall. So is M. Emmett Walsh.

 

Jason Mewes? Eh, not really. He's only ever played that one character.

Think of someone like Paul Giamatti.

 

ahhh.

isnt he a lead though?

this is tougher than i thought.

 

My informal benchmark has always been: If you see an actor and immediately know him by his real (or stage) name, he's a lead actor. If you see him and you call him the name of one of his characters, he's a character actor.

Paul Giamatti getting to be a tweener, though.

Ever since "Major League," one of my favorites in this category has been James Gammon.

 

Steve Buscemi

 

Does Phillip Seymour Hoffman count, or has he gotten too big?

How 'bout John Turturro, James Rebhorn, and this guy ...



Seinfeld's Slippery Pete, The Big Lebowski's Ulee Kunkel (nihilist), and one of the bad dudes with Steve Buscemi (another candidate?) in Fargo. Name is Peter Stormare.

 

Harry Dean Stanton

John Turturro

Wayne Knight

 

David Strathairn

 

Good call, he is always good.

 

--Vincent Schiavelli
--William Schallert
--Barbara Bosson