Esteemed Character Actress Margo Martindale & 9 Other Character Actors You Recognize From Somewhere
They're doctors, detectives, judges, neighbors, bosses, co-workers and, hey, need a lawyer? These actors are everywhere, on every show, on every channel, yet even though you always see their faces you'd be hard-pressed to conger up a name. In fact, two entertaining documentaries devoted to those who eschew the lure of leading roles for an array of parts that show their range are available for streaming: That Guy...Who Was In That Thing and That Gal...Who Was In That Thing: That Guy 2.
Not everyone can be Paul Newman, aka the star. Movies need actors who can play the often unusual, interesting, eccentric, or dare it be said, mundane supporting roles; the ones who the good-looking-always-gets-the-love-interest romantic hero or heroine can play off of. Here are some of the best!
10 Matt Malloy
Audiences first started seeing this everyman face in 1988 when he played a legal assistant in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. He moved on to more glamorous roles like cop, security guard, and Wall Street businessman. Remember when he played the bumbling weatherman in Morning Glory opposite Rachel McAdams or the foil of Aaron Eckhart in In the Company of Men?
Malloy has been in at least one episode of every TV, and has popped up as different characters on various Law & Order franchises. He's also had recurring roles on TV shows like Six Feet Under, Alpha House, and At Home with Amy Sedaris.
9 Dana Wheeler-Nicholson
Every time you turn around, there she is. Remember Dana as suburban "Laney" the recipient of the Bellini baby basket on Sex And The City who later showed up at Samantha's party to party like she used to when she was in the music biz? Then she was a leather-clad rock-n-roll wife on Law & Order: Criminal Intent as well as a down-on-her-luck mother on Friday Night Lights, which was a recurring role.
Wheeler-Nicholson has also had substantive parts on All My Children and Nashville. Most recently you probably caught her on Bull and Grey's Anatomy.
8 Kevin Dunn
He's made over 100 appearances on the big and small screen. If you haven't seen before, clearly you haven't been paying attention. Dunn--with his likable face and general approachableness--has played everything from an FBI agent in Mississippi Burning opposite Gene Hackman to an ad exec in Picture Perfect with Jennifer Aniston to the coach on 7th Heaven to a doctor on Code Black to a politico on Veep with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
His most recent recurring role is on Kevin Bacon's City on a Hill. He's an incredibly versatile actor if there ever was one.
7 Jayne Atkinson
This lady plays large and in charge--especially as the Head of the Department of Homeland Security's West Coast operations on 24.
Aside from movies and guest spots on television shows like Blue Bloods, Law & Order, White Collar, The Good Wife, and Chicago Med, Jayne has had many recurring roles on high profile shows: A Year in the Life, Parenthood, Gossip Girl as school dean, House of Cards as Secretary of State, Madam Secretary as the VP, Bluff City Law, Criminal Minds, and in the show Clarice, where Atkinson will play the Attorney General.
6 Paul Schulze
Paul began his career in the critically acclaimed Nick Gomez indie Laws of Gravity (along with friend Edie Falco) and just kept on working.
He's hopped from dramas like Judging Amy, The Division, The West Wing, Mad Men, The Sopranos, CSI, and NCIS, to comedies like Spin City and Frasier, and has had recurring roles on 24, Journeyman, Nurse Jackie, Suits, and most recently Tommy. He's played so many varied parts on all the Law & Order franchises you need a scorecard to keep track.
5 Roma Maffia
She was Michael Douglas's attorney in Disclosure, a beat reporter in The Paper, Ashley Judd's prison buddy in Double Jeopardy, Michelle Pfeiffer's first salon customer in Married to the Mob, and a Police Lieutenant on Pretty Little Liars. Clearly, Maffia gets around.
Since the mid-80s this actor has dazzled us with the array of characters she can play convincingly on shows like Billions, Queen Sugar, Grey's Anatomy, Nip/Tuck, Boston Legal, Profiler, Law & Order and Ally McBeal. Whether it's in a recurring role or a one-shot deal, Roma always delivers the goods.
4 J.C. MacKenzie
He's not the "bad guy" actor, but he doesn't play the good guy either. He's the prosecutor who wanted to put Jessica Chastain in prison in Molly's Game; the headmaster who wanted to kick Damian Lewis' kids out of school on Billions; and the governor who threatens to sue the state of Ohio for putting the president on the election ballot on Madam Secretary.
Perhaps you recall him in The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio, his recurring role as a detective on The Shield, or his most recent part as the prosecutor in The Trial of the Chicago 7. J.C. has also played many lawyers.
3 Debra Monk
This actor is like air, she's always around us. The nurse, the neighbor, the secretary (as she played in Robert Redford's Quiz Show), Monk is the familiar face that lets us feel at home with whatever we're watching.
You can get whiplash from continually spotting Debra: there she is in Prelude to a Kiss with Meg Ryan; wait, now she's on that other channel in The Devil's Advocate with Keanu Reeves. She's the mom in Center Stage; look she's on Damages, Grey's Anatomy and New Amsterdam. Look for her in the upcoming The Gilded Age.
2 David Paymer
It would probably be easier to figure out what this actor hasn't been in. From Barney Miller and Happy Days to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Paymer's career has spanned four decades.
His portrayal of smarmy Hollywood producer in David Mamet's State and Main is a totally different from his role as smarmy 1950s TV producer in Robert Redford's Quiz Show. Then he transforms himself into the schlubby subordinate in In Good Company opposite Dennis Quaid. David has portrayed doctors, lawyers, and had a recurring role as a judge on The Good Wife. He is always somewhere playing something.
1 Margo Martindale
Drama. Comedy. Movies. TV. There is no role that contains this great talent. She is the nurse yelling at everyone to get out of her ER; the plainswoman--shotgun in hand--telling the trespassers to get off her land; and the lawyer telling the DA that her client will go to jail over her dead body.
The 3-time Emmy winner started working in the mid-'80s and has been in nearly everything since. Lonesome Dove and Days of Thunder, The Firm and Ghosts of Mississippi, Practical Magic and 28 Days, 100 Centre Street and Medium, Dexter and Justified, The Good Wife and The Good Fight, as well as The Americans and Mrs. America in which she played "Bella Abzug". Margo's name is in the credits of them all--and then some.
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