There is a misconception that character actors are the type casting directors label as not having the look to play leads. Gary Cole has the look and has played leading men on TV and onstage. Early on, Cole appeared in MOWs and starred in several TV series, including Crusade, Midnight Caller, and the cult favorite American Gothic. But it wasn't until he put on a permed wig and polyester pants to recreate Robert Reed's famed character, Mike Brady, in The Brady Bunch Movie (and its sequel) that he caught most people's attention. Cole hadn't done on-camera comedy until then, so his sudden acclaim came as a complete surprise. "[Comedy] is seemingly most of what I've done since," he said, laughing. "There's no handbook to a career."
Cole in a word? Authority. Whether playing fathers, FBI agents, bosses, cops, or attorneys, Cole brings an air of power to his parts. Yet he can go either way with that power: corrupt or comforting. He brings a special duality to each character that allows them to remain in command but still either frighten or calm us. This duality can be seen in his portrayal of the seductive devil's messenger Sheriff Lucas Buck in American Gothic and in the soulless, glad-handing boss Bill Lumbergh in the comedic film Office Space. Or he can completely switch gears, playing the coddling dad in I'll Be Home for Christmas or the aforementioned advice-spouting Brady dad.
The actor's greatest strength is his commanding way of straddling the line between sinister and sympathetic. He always seems to have a dirty little secret, as in his role as Agent Baxter in A Simple Plan or his attorney character in The Gift. Parts like this bring him closer to the horrible crimes he's supposed to be bringing to justice.
In creating each role, he alters his All-American good looks to suit the character. Using vocal inflections to personify Mike Brady, or holding a coffee cup while playing Lumbergh, the stage veteran inhabits his characters wholly. Cole insists that his two most famous roles—Brady and Lumbergh—were simply "impersonations," but he gives them so much texture and dimension that you know he's not giving himself enough credit.
"I was always a very instinctual actor," said Cole. "I pretty much rely on the vision of the director, the material, and what the other actors give me."
Cole studied theatre at Illinois State University and began his professional stage career in Chicago, where he co-founded the Remains Theatre Ensemble and, in 1985, became a member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Cole's humble working-actor attitude goes back to these ensemble days.
"We were familiar with each other. That was kind of a luxury that we had—relying on the other guy," explained Cole, who doesn't think of his job as acting but rather as re-acting. "I believe that your character is built by the other characters as much as, or maybe even more so than, by yourself."
One thing is certain: Relying on the other guy has made Cole an inadvertent scene stealer and a sensational supporting player.