Role Call

What’s shaking in the world of character actors?

Courtesy Quirk Books

Adam Sternbergh: This is the season of, “Hey! It’s that guy!” A lot of very “Hey! It’s that guy!”-y guys are getting their chance to shine. Like Philip Seymour Hoffman [as the star of Capote]. He’s a borderline “Hey! It’s that guy!” Or David Strathairn, the guy in Good Night, and Good Luck. And there was someone else I saw recently who has a big part in some movie —

Tara Ariano: Well, Clifton Collins Jr. was also in Capote. He’s in our book.
And so was Bruce Greenwood. He’s in the book too.

I’m glad you mention Hoffman, because I’m curious to know how you decide when someone has become too famous to stay on the list.

Ariano: Every year we do a thing on Fametracker called the Rascos, because Rasco is almost Oscar spelled backwards. It’s our alternative entertainment awards. One of the categories is the William H. Macy Memorial Hey! It’s That Guy! Graduation. The past few years, it’s actually been quite fraught; there have been some pretty intense debates about who gets it. John C. Reilly won when he got nominated for an Oscar for Chicago — and was in, like, 12 movies that year. Paul Giamatti got it last year for Sideways, and also leftover from American Splendor. So it’s often that the actor needs a huge, breakout part to graduate.

That sounds smart. But let’s back up for a minute: Why the mutual obsession with character actors?

Sternbergh: I remember first getting into movies as a teenager in the ’80s, and recognizing the phenomenon of certain actors who show up again and again playing essentially the same role. There were three guys who stuck in my head as being the quintessentials. One was J.T. Walsh, one was Brian Dennehy and one was Joe Don Baker — which says something about the kind of movies I like to watch. It was funny when we were working on the book, because there were certain habitats that were really Tara’s expertise. She’s very well-versed in the WB universe, for example. She knows people who have played a lot of moms.

Ariano: And people who have been in John Hughes movies.

Sternbergh: Whereas I was on the ball with people —

Ariano: Who were in Predator.

Sternbergh: Yes, cheesy ’80s action films. Anyone with a straight-to-tape career.

Hey, it's that annoying salesman. Character actor Stephen Tobolowsky. Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images.

Ariano: When you look at these people on the IMDB, they’ll have 200 credits, and they’re 43 [years old]. You don’t know how they could have possibly worked that much. It’s because they show up [on movie sets] for three days at a time, and then they go on to do something else.

Sternbergh: Stephen Tobolowsky talks about this in the interview he has at the beginning of the book. There was a week when he did three different movies. He would come in for a day and play the wacky neighbour, and then go off and do something else. I think he did [his role on HBO’s] Deadwood during that week too.

It seems like you had big fun talking to Tobolowsky. That’s a minor surprise, given that so much of Fametracker is devoted to poking fun at celebrity culture.

Ariano: The Hey! It’s That Guy! section is different than the other sections on Fametracker, in that most of the things we write are positive. We’re generally pretty nice about these people, since we don’t know enough about them to say anything mean. Like, “I don’t know why Harriet Sansom Harris married Kevin Federline.” It doesn’t come up.

Sternbergh: She did?

Ariano: She didn’t. I made that up. But that’s my point: it gives us an opportunity to concentrate on [the actors’] work, as opposed to their persona.

Sternbergh:In a weird way, I feel like Hey! It’s That Guys! are immune to the love-hate relationships that we develop with stars, because their personality isn’t part of their product. We don’t read about their private lives. We don’t ever go, “Oh, George Dzundza, do you have to be on 30 magazine covers this month? Enough, already!”

Ha! You both sound like you’re describing distant, beloved family members.

Ariano: When you’ve written a profile of one of these actors and then they show up in a new movie, you’re like, “Ah, there they are.” If they start to become more famous, you do feel like a proud relative.

Sternbergh: But it’s also a little sad when someone graduates, because once you become a recognized star, you don’t get to do the funny, quirky parts that made you interesting in the first place.

Yeah, you can’t slum as the psycho killer on Law & Order anymore.

Ariano: That’s true. But you can still be on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, because they do a lot more stunt casting. You won’t be the killer, but you can be a pedophile.

Are there any Hey! It’s That Guy! guys who you hate to watch, but had to include because the book wouldn’t have felt complete without them?

Sternbergh: Even with the people who make us say, “Hey! It’s that snivelling, whining, irritating jerk” — it’s not like you dislike the person. Ron Rifkin is someone who often plays abrasive pricks, but he’s great. When he plays an abrasive prick, it’s because the movie needed him to be an abrasive prick.

Hey, it's that gnarly convict. Character actor Danny Trejo. Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images.

Ariano: Dylan Baker is another one who has played a lot of really bad guys, but it doesn’t stick to him. A, because we don’t know anything about him in his real life; and B, because he is a good actor and plays other kinds of parts too. It’s not like he’s Danny Trejo, where there’s only one kind of part he can play.

Sternbergh: I love Danny. Don’t be bad-mouthing Danny Trejo.

Ariano: I’m not. But Danny Trejo doesn’t show up as, “Hey! It’s that shlubby accountant!” You don’t hire Danny Trejo to play that part.