Items30The creator’s order
  1. 1Margo MartindaleMargo MartindaleBorn 18 Jul 1951Mags Bennett, the criminal matriarch of Justified, and Claudia, the Soviet handler in The Americans, share a formidable capacity to make reassurance feel dangerous. Martindale gives both women an ordinary, conversational surface. Follow these two roles for a lesson in authority that never needs…0i
  2. 2Stephen RootStephen RootBorn 17 Nov 1951The muttering Milton in Office Space (1999) and the manipulative Fuches in Barry are the same actor. Root can make a man seem almost invisible, then expose the grievances or appetites underneath. Milton is the quick comic introduction; Fuches gives that unsettling mixture of neediness and…0i
  3. 3Ann DowdAnn DowdBorn 30 Jan 1956If you recognise Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid's Tale, seek out Dowd as the fast-food manager in Compliance (2012). Both roles concern authority, but the manager's willingness to obey makes a revealing contrast with Lydia's power to impose rules. These are disturbing performances, useful for…0i
  4. 4David MorseDavid MorseBorn 11 Oct 1953Morse plays prison officer Brutal Howell in The Green Mile (1999) and Ellie's father, Ted Arroway, in Contact (1997). His substantial physical presence can suggest protection as readily as intimidation. These gentler roles make a good starting pair: a dependable colleague in one ensemble, a…0i
  5. 5Walton GogginsWalton GogginsBorn 10 Nov 1971Boyd Crowder in Justified and Shane Vendrell in The Shield offer two sustained introductions to Goggins. Boyd's elaborate talk makes persuasion a performance; Shane is more volatile and desperate to hold his place. Follow the contrast if you enjoy crime ensembles in which loyalty and self-interest…0i
  6. 6Shea WhighamShea WhighamBorn 5 Jan 1969Boardwalk Empire gives Whigham a long, knotty role as Eli Thompson, a sheriff living in his brother's shadow. In Take Shelter (2011), he plays Dewart, the protagonist's friend and co-worker. The latter is a useful film-length introduction to his ability to make disappointment and injured pride feel…0i
  7. 7Stephen TobolowskyStephen TobolowskyBorn 30 May 1951The relentlessly cheerful insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day (1993) is Tobolowsky; so is Sammy Jankis in Memento (2000). One role relies on the irritation of being recognised, the other on uncertainty about memory. The pairing reveals how much a familiar face can change meaning with a…0i
  8. 8Beth GrantBeth GrantBorn 18 Sept 1949Grant's Kitty Farmer in Donnie Darko (2001) turns moral certainty into suburban pressure. As the pageant official in Little Miss Sunshine (2006), she again gives a comic institution a fiercely committed human face. Watch how seriously she takes the rules: the humour comes from conviction, not from…0i
  9. 9Dale DickeyDale DickeyMerab in Winter's Bone (2010) and the bank employee in Hell or High Water (2016) are played by Dickey. The first is a sustained, intimidating presence; the second establishes a tough-minded person in very little time. Her directness helps both films feel inhabited by people whose lives extend…0i
  10. 10Richard JenkinsRichard JenkinsBorn 4 May 1947Jenkins is Giles, the lonely illustrator next door in The Shape of Water (2017). For a larger role, try The Visitor, in which his professor Walter Vale gradually emerges from emotional isolation. The connection is his patient attention to people who have become accustomed to being overlooked,…0i