1) rene russo (her career fascinates me; she's made a cottage industry out of always playing the same part, the "rene russo" part)
― get bent, Saturday, 9 June 2007 02:25 (sixteen years ago) link
2) Parker Posey?
― Ms Misery, Saturday, 9 June 2007 02:33 (sixteen years ago) link
3) Lili Taylor
― John Justen, Saturday, 9 June 2007 02:43 (sixteen years ago) link
4) Steve Buscemi
― John Justen, Saturday, 9 June 2007 02:44 (sixteen years ago) link
5)Dan Hedaya
― marmotwolof, Saturday, 9 June 2007 03:18 (sixteen years ago) link
Steve Buscemi is famous!
― mulla atari, Saturday, 9 June 2007 11:35 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah wtf buscemi and russo are famous. if i've heard of them, they're famous.
― g-kit, Saturday, 9 June 2007 11:38 (sixteen years ago) link
No, if the lex has heard of them, they're famous.
― John Justen, Saturday, 9 June 2007 15:29 (sixteen years ago) link
buscemi is 2 famous 4 this.
― That one guy that quit, Saturday, 9 June 2007 15:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Mariette Hartley
― Rock Hardy, Saturday, 9 June 2007 15:39 (sixteen years ago) link
kurtwood smith
― and what, Saturday, 9 June 2007 15:40 (sixteen years ago) link
warren oates was the king of this in the 70s
― gershy, Saturday, 9 June 2007 15:45 (sixteen years ago) link
Clint Howard, Ron Howard's brother.
― svend, Saturday, 9 June 2007 15:45 (sixteen years ago) link
morton csokas
― TOMBOT, Saturday, 9 June 2007 19:50 (sixteen years ago) link
Does Alfred Molina work?
― kingkongvsgodzilla, Saturday, 9 June 2007 20:07 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=1990
except some of these are obviously stupid. james cromwell is plenty famous/known.
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 9 June 2007 20:12 (sixteen years ago) link
So we're talking about popular character actors?
― Pleasant Plains, Saturday, 9 June 2007 20:36 (sixteen years ago) link
Who aren't famous.
Vincent Shiavelli owns this thread.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 9 June 2007 20:40 (sixteen years ago) link
my answers are all, like, 'that chick with the hair', 'that dude with the eye'
― rrrobyn, Saturday, 9 June 2007 20:44 (sixteen years ago) link
Fred Thompson
― mulla atari, Saturday, 9 June 2007 20:47 (sixteen years ago) link
William Fichter. Is that how you spell it? He's in everything ever, but never the lead.
Except on some TV show I never watched.
― Hey Jude, Saturday, 9 June 2007 23:19 (sixteen years ago) link
That's a good one. ILX loves them some William Fichtner. WILLIAM FICHTNER!
― Rock Hardy, Saturday, 9 June 2007 23:26 (sixteen years ago) link
the longhaired, tattooed, scarred native american dude who always plays the bad guy ganstaaaaa... i think he was in 'once upon a time in mexico' and possibly 'from dusk til dawn', and any other movie that requires a bad muthafucka.
― Rubyred, Sunday, 10 June 2007 00:58 (sixteen years ago) link
he never plays the starring or supporting role though! that's what this thread is about
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:01 (sixteen years ago) link
luis guzman
― cutty, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:03 (sixteen years ago) link
these last two are in that cracked mag gallery. and who could forget Peter Greene, possibly a poor man's Fichtner(!). He actually starred in that Halle Berry movie a couple years back iirc.
― tremendoid, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:04 (sixteen years ago) link
"he never plays the starring or supporting role though! that's what this thread is about"
sorry :( i am a mentalist. i can't even get the italics code working today.
― Rubyred, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:11 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.carriesdiary.com/imgs/jackpic.jpg wait, who am I again?
― tremendoid, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:28 (sixteen years ago) link
mark ruffalo and stellan skaarsgard aren't FAMOUS famous, do they count?
― tremendoid, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:29 (sixteen years ago) link
they're kinda famous, yeah? not paris hilton-famous, but well-known by any movie-goer with discerning taste.
― Rubyred, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:33 (sixteen years ago) link
i saw stellan skaarsgard'd penis last night.
skaarsgard'S
― Rubyred, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:34 (sixteen years ago) link
haha actually skarsgard's with a little 'o' on top of the second 'a' but he'll take what he can get.
― tremendoid, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:36 (sixteen years ago) link
hey is that ron livingston or scott foley? I can never tell for some reason. it works for both of them really.
― Roz, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:43 (sixteen years ago) link
Judge Reinhold, now more than ever
― gershy, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:44 (sixteen years ago) link
Cary Elwes, too.
― Roz, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:47 (sixteen years ago) link
Interesting the overwhelmingly maleness of this list. No, I'm not trying to start a feminist rant. Guh.
But why? Suppose it's because there are few female actors who fit this description? Are women either stars, co-stars or utterly invisible/interchangeable? Think, think, think ...
Eileen Brennan?
Ellen Burstyn?
Used to be Olympia Dukakis, but then she struck gold that Cher movie.
I'm drawing a blank here.
― Hey Jude, Sunday, 10 June 2007 14:14 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.mikefs.co.uk/M00015043-01.jpg
― Dom Passantino, Sunday, 10 June 2007 14:19 (sixteen years ago) link
Ed Harris
― CharlieNo4, Sunday, 10 June 2007 15:48 (sixteen years ago) link
http://cricketfeet.com/actingqs/JamesRebhorn.jpg
― and what, Sunday, 10 June 2007 16:19 (sixteen years ago) link
ok, ok, i got one!!
>>>>DEAN STOCKWELL
(i just watched 'paris, texas' last nite)
am i now no longer a mentalist?
― Rubyred, Sunday, 10 June 2007 22:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Not sure i understand either, isn't there a statute of limitations though? Lack of famousness for Stockwell, Reinhold, and especially Russo is a function of them not getting work lately but they were once stars. We're looking for never-wases, not has-beens right?
― tremendoid, Monday, 11 June 2007 00:02 (sixteen years ago) link
was stockwell ever really a star? maybe i'm too young to remember.
― Rubyred, Monday, 11 June 2007 00:05 (sixteen years ago) link
i just assumed with him, the only movie i've ever seen him helm is 'Boy with Green Hair' when he was a kid. I think if anything he's more famous than his number of appearances would suggest, given quantam leap's run
― tremendoid, Monday, 11 June 2007 00:23 (sixteen years ago) link
i suck at this game.
― Rubyred, Monday, 11 June 2007 00:24 (sixteen years ago) link
but i have 5.5hrs of work left, so maybe i'll get better.
http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Events/2925/DylanBaker_Wargo_4747698_400.jpg IM IN YR MOVIES, STEALIN YOUR SCENES
― The Yellow Kid, Monday, 11 June 2007 05:44 (sixteen years ago) link
MC Gainey
― nickalicious, Monday, 11 June 2007 13:31 (sixteen years ago) link
M Emmett Walsh Dan Hadeya Brion James JT Walsh
― nate woolls, Monday, 11 June 2007 13:59 (sixteen years ago) link
wes studi! i love that guy
― gff, Monday, 11 June 2007 14:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Saul Rubinek
― Ste, Monday, 11 June 2007 14:15 (sixteen years ago) link
See? Still, no women. This is so odd.
How about Cloris Leachman?
― Hey Jude, Monday, 11 June 2007 20:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Mary McDonnell?
― gabbneb, Monday, 11 June 2007 20:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Jane Lynch, for a while. she was in the fugitive!
― gff, Monday, 11 June 2007 20:58 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.badmovieplanet.com/unknownmovies/pictures/nightnoon3.JPG
― m coleman, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:01 (sixteen years ago) link
M. Emmet Walsh pwns
Also Joe Don Baker
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:02 (sixteen years ago) link
I do think its a truism that women as a rule are not allowed to have a career as character actors.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:07 (sixteen years ago) link
Chris Elliott
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:12 (sixteen years ago) link
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/10/31/books/elli184.jpg
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:13 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.ohiou.edu/esl/elective/film/AngryMen/JFiedler.jpg
http://www.startrek.com/imageuploads/200506/tos-036-hengist-2/320x240.jpg
― m coleman, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:16 (sixteen years ago) link
Robin Tunney
― nickalicious, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:17 (sixteen years ago) link
John Fielder: voice of Piglet, amirite?
― kenan, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:18 (sixteen years ago) link
i just looked it up, and yes. Also, Clint Howard was the voice of Roo. Huh. Learn somethin new every day.
― kenan, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:20 (sixteen years ago) link
lot of gangster character actors fit the bill here (at least within that particular genre)
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:22 (sixteen years ago) link
I think this thread calls for people whose names go above the movie title
― gabbneb, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:23 (sixteen years ago) link
Robert Davi and Eric Roberts, who I used to get confused with each other.
― nickalicious, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:32 (sixteen years ago) link
Eventually I lost a $1 bet on that guy from Goonies being Julia Roberts' brother.
― nickalicious, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:33 (sixteen years ago) link
There sure are a lot of famous people on this thread.
― Pleasant Plains, Monday, 11 June 2007 21:40 (sixteen years ago) link
Michael Shannon
Kathleen Wilhoite
J.K.Simmons
Tony Cox
― Eazy, Monday, 11 June 2007 22:47 (sixteen years ago) link
I'll see your Tony Cox and raise you a Billy Barty
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 11 June 2007 22:52 (sixteen years ago) link
Chris Cooper
― jocelyn, Monday, 11 June 2007 23:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Chris Cooper won an Oscar!
― Pleasant Plains, Monday, 11 June 2007 23:49 (sixteen years ago) link
ok i think I'm hitting a groove here. Chris Cooper OTM, oscar or no. Toni Collette would maybe qualify, her roles seem to always straddle lead/supporting in a weird way. Dermut Mulroney (sp?). Liev Schreiber!
― tremendoid, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 00:36 (sixteen years ago) link
claire forlani? she's had leading roles and is a regular on csi:ny now but i always see her and think 'oh it's that girl that was in basquiat'. note: i never saw meet joe black.
― tehresa, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 00:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Most of the biggest U.S. stage actors fall into this category: Schreiber, Cherry Jones, Dylan Baker for sure, John Mahoney pre-Fraiser, Marian Seldes.
As film actors only: Spalding Gray, Christopher Durang, Wallace Shawn.
For gals: Hope Davis, Laura Linney.
― Eazy, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 00:46 (sixteen years ago) link
John Carroll Lynch (best known from Fargo and Zodiac).
― Eazy, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 00:54 (sixteen years ago) link
I was watching the filming of a Dark Knight scene downtown last night and I got to wondering if any of the people looking on even recognized Aaron Eckhart. Or even Maggie Gyllenhaal, for that matter. Or, if he'd been there, Christian Bale. They're all relatively big names, but they probably could still just about walk down the street unmolested, I'd bet.
P.S. I am very out of touch with popular culture as it is experienced by most people kthanxbye
― Deric W. Haircare, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 01:52 (sixteen years ago) link
P.P.S. I was also watching the filming of a scene from Larry the Cable Guy's upcoming laffer Witless Protection (ha! ha!) this afternoon and, although I'll bet most of the people in the crowd probably recognized that talentless douchenozzle, nobody really acted like they gave a shit.
― Deric W. Haircare, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 01:54 (sixteen years ago) link
i best know john carroll lynch from drew carey show reruns. he was a major character on that. i don't know if he counts, though tbh i couldn't have told you his name.
― tehresa, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 01:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Cliff Curtis
― spectra, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 02:38 (sixteen years ago) link
CCH Pounder Judy Greer Paula Marshall Michael Kelly Paul Ben-Victor Adam Goldberg
― David R., Tuesday, 12 June 2007 03:07 (sixteen years ago) link
(not so much movies, my 6, but still)
― David R., Tuesday, 12 June 2007 03:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Gene Hackman
― Pleasant Plains, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 04:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Alec Baldwin
Doris Roberts
― Pleasant Plains, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 04:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Woohoo! Kathleen Wilhoite, Laura Linney, Doris Roberts....
Who was that woman who played the psychic in the Poltergeist movies? I'm not sure if she was really a midget or just very very short.
Marcia Wallace Julie Kavner Grrr... Can't think of her name, but the woman who played Selma on Night Court. Connie Selleca
― Hey Jude, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 04:53 (sixteen years ago) link
-- spectra, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 02:38 (3 hours ago)
he's world famous in NZ!!
(and apparently he's a bit of a wanker)
― Rubyred, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 05:53 (sixteen years ago) link
We already had a thread about this:
Faces: a thread for supporting movie/tv actors whose mugs most of you would recognize, but whose names you'd never know.
I suggested these two there:
http://www.crazy4cinema.com/Actor/imgs/levy.jpg
http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/Movies/Actors2/Baranski_JF88657838_150x200.jpg
I also think Ron Perlman fits the bill, vbecause he has an instantly recognizable face, but I doubt that many people could actually name him:
http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/news/images/m/movies/sq-ron-perlman-2003-intv.jpg
(Okay, he had the lead role in Hellboy, but it's not like he got really famous for that.)
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 06:52 (sixteen years ago) link
that woman has an eerie resemblance to ron perlman... are you sure that isnt' him in drag?
― Rubyred, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 09:37 (sixteen years ago) link
I think Peter Stormare is a good one because everyone recognizes him but they're always like "they cut-off-your-johnson guy!" or "the guy who put Steve Buscemi in the woodchipper".
― nickalicious, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 14:04 (sixteen years ago) link
hell yes Peter Stormare is a good answer, been noticing him lately. And he was in the Frogger episode of Seinfeld.
― Ste, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 14:11 (sixteen years ago) link
In response to a gentle letter from a New York lawyer, dying of cancer in a hospital, who said he very much wanted the couple to be reunited, Fowles wrote back, "Yes, they were." On the same day he got a "horrid" letter from an American woman who angrily demanded, "Why can't you say what you mean, and for God's sake, what happened in the end?" Fowles replied curtly: "They never saw each other again."
― gff, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 14:31 (sixteen years ago) link
oh shit! wrong thread!! um, yes peter stormare!
― gff, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 14:32 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/2323/Events/2323/MaryKayPla_Grant_2061253_400.jpg
― Tim F, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 14:39 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.tvguide.com/images/pgimg/mary-kay-place1.jpg
― Tim F, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 14:40 (sixteen years ago) link
Celia Weston
http://www.kfilmu.net/obrazky/herci/celia-weston.jpg
Patricia Clarkson
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/section/movies/filmography/3/WireImage_3662214.jpg
― jaymc, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 14:46 (sixteen years ago) link
William Bendix
http://www.nndb.com/people/727/000031634/bendix-999002700.jpg
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 15:19 (sixteen years ago) link
Larry Hankin
http://www.beatsupernovarasa.com/immagini/hankinl.jpg
― iiiijjjj, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 15:30 (sixteen years ago) link
Brian Cox
http://www.nndb.com/people/712/000072496/cox-sm.jpg
― jaymc, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 15:55 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.michaelromanos.com/pictures/stock_photos/seymour_cassel.jpg
― C. Grisso/McCain, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 15:58 (sixteen years ago) link
peter stormare just might be my #1 'that guy'
― tehresa, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 22:59 (sixteen years ago) link