Ah, to be a character actor. No, you may not ever lead a big blockbuster movie or get a project greenlit based on your name alone. But you will enjoy a wide-ranging career playing all kinds of interesting roles and expanding your creative repertoire. Most importantly, you will book constantly.
To celebrate the ubiquitous performer who graces supporting roles across film and television, whose face immediately rings familiar even if we don’t quite know their name, we’ve gathered 15 of the best for inspiration and exaltation.
Becky Ann Baker
A regular Broadway actor, Baker has consistently given startling, attention-grabbing performances in films like “A Simple Plan,” “Men in Black,” and “Spider-Man 3” (while working with directors like Steven Spielberg and George Miller in a series of smaller roles, too). On TV, Baker has a tendency to play the strong, witty, and quite flawed mothers of main characters, such as those played by Linda Cardellini on “Freaks and Geeks,” Lena Dunham on “Girls,” and Jason Sudeikis on “Ted Lasso,” earning Emmy nominations for the latter two roles.
“Ted Lasso” Courtesy Apple TV+
Bill Camp
Camp will usually play a figure of some authority, but the level of respect we are to give his characters varies from project to project. He can shift into menace just as effectively as incompetence, making him a welcome presence in any genre. Some of his notable performances include “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” “Drive-Away Dolls,” “Lincoln,” “12 Years a Slave,” and Emmy-nominated turns on “The Night Of” and “Presumed Innocent.”
“The Gilded Age” Credit: Karolina Wojtasik/HBO
Loretta Devine
An Emmy winner for her recurring role on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Devine is divine in every part. After originating roles in musicals like “Dreamgirls,” Devine carved out a screen career during which she played kind-hearted women who weren’t afraid to resort to tough love when needed. Her notable works include “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser,” “Urban Legend,” “Waiting to Exhale,” and “P-Valley.”
“This Christmas” Credit: Album/Alamy
Dale Dickey
Dickey’s face is striking, telling a character’s story before she’s even said a word. As such, she’s racked up an impressive résumé playing a litany of working class people experiencing tough times, showing up in “Breaking Bad,” “Winter’s Bone,” “Iron Man 3,” and “Fallout.” In 2022, she played the leading role in “A Love Song,” turning in a vulnerable performance of an outdoorsy woman who allows connection into her life.
“A Love Song” Courtesy Bleecker Street
Ann Dowd
Dowd uses her face against you. On the surface, she seems like a polite, average woman you might run into at church. But she often wields that unassuming charm to play women with devious secrets and malignant motivations. Her credits include “Hereditary,” “The Leftovers,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Compliance”—and I don’t trust a single one of those characters.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” Credit: Disney/Steve Wilkie
Patrick Fischler
Fischler’s eyes are wonderful instruments. They pool with vulnerability and invitation but can just as easily push forward to unnerve or intimidate. Fischler has played a wide variety of men with secrets, some of whom are criminal, in works like “Mad Men,” “Lost,” “Mulholland Drive,” and the cult hit video game “L.A. Noire.”
“NCIS: Origins” Credit: Erik Voake/CBS
Beth Grant
Like Dickey, Grant tends to play working class characters who have clearly lived a life. But Grant often uses this assumed experience to pursue a want with more agency than your average supporting character, adding a jolt of energy to countless works of various genres. You can see her in classics like “Speed,” “A Time to Kill,” “Donnie Darko,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “No Country for Old Men,” and “The Mindy Project.”
“The Bondsman” Courtesy Prime Video
Luis Guzmán
Guzmán’s filmography is a measure of his talent. Cutting a smaller figure, Guzmán is unique and striking in every role, often using his unpretentious nature to surprise the audience with volatility or vulnerability. He’s a regular muse for Paul Thomas Anderson (“Boogie Nights,” “Punch-Drunk Love”) and Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic,” “Out of Sight”) and has also performed on TV shows like “Wednesday,” “Oz,” and “Narcos.”
“Poker Face” Credit: Karolina Wojtasik/Peacock
Stephen McKinley Henderson
When you see Henderson, you kinda want him to give you a bear hug. He’s a big presence onscreen, but he so naturally exudes warmth, love, and paternal energy (and when he weaponizes that perceived kindness, look out). Some of his standout performances can be found in “Lady Bird,” “Beau Is Afraid,” “Dune: Part One,” “Fences,” “Manchester by the Sea,” and all kinds of “Law & Order” episodes.
“Civil War” Credit: Murray Close
John Carroll Lynch
Lynch looks like such an everyman that you could cast him in any type of supporting role and you’d believe him wholeheartedly. He’s been a figure of borderline boring goodness in “Fargo,” a force of abject, unchecked evil on “American Horror Story,” and someone with weaponized ambivalence in “Zodiac.” Other great performances can be found in “The Invitation,” “Ballard,” “Sorry, Baby,” and “Shutter Island.”
“The Walking Dead” Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Margo Martindale
Martindale is a character actress so beloved she was codified as such on “BoJack Horseman,” the Netflix animated series that referred to her consistently as “Character Actress Margo Martindale.” This character was hyperbolically unhinged, prone to acts of violence and selfish behavior. While we bet Martindale is lovely in real life, her most acclaimed roles tend to lean toward the darker side, too, especially in “The Americans,” “Justified,” “August: Osage County,” and “Cocaine Bear.”
“Poker Face” Credit: Sarah Shatz/Peacock
John Ortiz
Ortiz is another figure of warmth and vulnerability, the kind of trusted, higher-status figure whom you believe fully has your back—until he cranks into full-on menace, as in the “Fast & Furious” franchise. You can see Ortiz’s sensitive work in “Jack Goes Boating,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Fiction,” “Ad Astra,” and “Will Trent.”
“Nobody 2” Courtesy Universal Pictures
Stephen Root
If it’s a broad comedy, Root will steal it. If it’s a nerve-shredding horror film, Root will steal it. And if it’s not one but two beloved Mike Judge properties (“Office Space,” “King of the Hill”), Root will steal them both (as Milton and Bill, respectively). He’s beyond versatile, a force of charisma and verve that spices up any project. You can also find him in “Barry,” “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Get Out,” and a couple key episodes of “Succession.”
“Barry” Credit: Aaron Epstein/HBO
Wes Studi
Hey, it’s Dickey’s co-lead in “A Love Song”! Before starring in that indie romance, Studi stacked up a sturdy career playing sturdy men, often in uniform and representing authority or gentle power. You get the sense that Studi’s characters never want trouble but are hiding some mysterious past that may have been full of trouble. Noted performances are in “Hostiles,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Avatar,” “Reservation Dogs,” and as Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn in a trio of acclaimed made-for-TV movies: “Skinwalkers,” “A Thief of Time,” and “Coyote Waits.”
“Reservoir Dogs” Credit: Shane Brown/FX
Stephen Tobolowsky
Whether getting on Bill Murray’s nerves in “Groundhog Day” or getting on Thomas Lennon’s nerves in “Memento,” Tobolowsky is a welcome sight. With a bald head and glasses, Tobolowsky tends to read affable but somewhat disheveled, like a favorite, eccentric college professor, and he uses the unstable edges of his image to great, often comedic effect. His other credits include “Deadwood,” “Community,” “The Goldbergs,” and “Freaky Friday.”
“One Day at a Time” Courtesy Netflix
