The 20 Best 'That Guys' Of All Time
A "That Guy" is a B-list character actor who's just talented enough to secure bit parts in a handful of movies every year, but not quite good looking enough to become a brand-name star. Some specialize in playing villains and others in having freaky-enormous chest tattoos, but combined, these brave, barely handsome men have appeared in every single movie produced in the last decade.
#20
DAVID MORSE
You Might Know Him From...
The Rock, 16 Blocks, The Green Mile, Proof of Life, 12 Monkeys, a bunch of other movies where he plays a psychotic government employee.
Special Moves
Being this close to jumping over this desk/car/boulder/pile of corpses and ferociously beating your face into the carpet.
Is a Poor Man's...
Russell Crowe
#19
PHILIP BAKER HALL
You Might Know Him From...
Boogie Nights, Seinfeld, Ghostbusters 2, literally every hour-long TV drama about lawyers. There are honestly too many to list here.
Special Moves
Thinking you're a worthless longhaired hippie punk, and not being afraid to tell you as much to your worthless longhaired hippie punk face.
Is a Poor Man's...
James Coburn. (Needless to say, Hall has been called more frequently now that James Coburn is dead.)
#18
JOAQUIM DE ALMEIDA
You Might Know Him From...
Clear and Present Danger, Desperado, 24, Behind Enemy Lines, his ruthless iron grip on the world of international drug trafficking.
Special Moves
Using his lack of a conscience to rise to power in the ruthless world of drugs/international espionage/banging chicks that are hotter than him.
Is a Poor Man's...
Al Pacino without eyebrows or, alternatively, Gabriel Byrne with a terrible Portuguese accent
#17
DYLAN BAKER
You Might Know Him From...
Spider-Man 2, Kinsey, Road to Perdition, countless shitty TV shows.
Special Moves
Indignantly pointing his finger at people, rubbing their mistakes in their faces, wearing bowties, making people pay (within the law), penis envy.
Is a Poor Man's...
Michael Clarke Duncan
#16
KEITH DAVID
You Might Know Him From...
Men at Work, Road House, Platoon, Barbershop, Armageddon, the 1980 blockbuster Disco Godfather.
Special Moves
Not giving a shit about anything other than completing the duty/assignment/trash pickup assigned to him.
Is a Poor Man's...
Louis Gossett, Jr.
#15
DANNY TREJO
You Might Know Him From...
Desperado, Grindhouse, The Devil's Rejects, xXx, Con Air, Heat, your worst nightmares.
Special Moves
Knife throwing, gun shooting, bartending, and face kicking, all while not speaking and sometimes simultaneously.
Is a Poor Man's...
Rosie Perez
#14
NOAH EMMERICH
You Might Know Him From...
Miracle, Beautiful Girls, The Truman Show, Cop Land, punching your nuts and taking your lunch money in elementary school.
Special Moves
Really swell guys with bad skin, really good friends with bad skin, really husky everymen with bad skin.
Is a Poor Man's...
Chemically burned Jon Favreau
#13
TOM WILKINSON
You Might Know Him From...
Batman Begins, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Patriot, Rush Hour, The Full Monty, being a dead ringer for at least one teacher in every high school in America.
Special Moves
Obese, selfish slobs.
Is a Poor Man's...
Jon Voight
#12
JK SIMMONS
You Might Know Him From...
Spider-Man, Thank You for Smoking, Law & Order (all three, seriously), Oz, The Jackal, poignantly capturing the essence of Ralph Earnhardt in the ESPN Films masterpiece, 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story.
Special Moves
Dispensing tough, well-informed love at top speed, top volume, and top borderline sarcasm.
Is a Poor Man's...
Ed Harris
#11
WILLIAM FICHTNER
You Might Know Him From...
Prison Break, The Longest Yard, Crash, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, The Perfect Storm, Armageddon, 12,348 other movies and TV shows about something that's 40 times more manly than you've ever done.
Special Moves
Pricks in uniform, cowards in uniform, assholes in uniform, shitheads in uniform, douchebags in uniform, fishermen who drown in uniform.
Is a Poor Man's...
Kevin Bacon
Do those fat guys from Gangs of New York count?... There's that "Shake N Bake" guy from Ricky Bobby and that Irish/English fat Cop Guy from 28 days later.
ReplyTom Wilkinson, Richard Jenkins and Peter Stormare are NOT 'That guy', but f*****g genious actors, whose names I have made the conscious effort to seek out and remember. Even after utter s**t like 'Constantine' where Stormare made me orgasm in his capacity as Lucifer.
Reply[Edit: Gee, there's an auto-censuring tool here! Cool!!!]
Brad Dourif!!!! The best creepy guy ever.
ReplyYou may know him from:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Dune, Child's Play (he's f****n Chucky!), Mississippi Burning, The X Files, Alien Resurrection, LOTR Two Towers, Deadwood, Halloween remakes, Psyche, Once Upon A Time...
Basically if you need a creepy doctor, mad scientist, minion, serial killer, possessed doll, old beggar, inmate (prison or psyche ward)...you grab Brad. Love him!!!
No Clint Howard?
ReplyI agree with the people who say these guys are often better actors than the "rich man's" version. William Fichtner and David Morse both give plenty of depth and nuance to their roles.
ReplyDamn, I recognize more of the that guys than the actors they are supposedly the poor man's version... wait a second... I KNOW WHY! I am a poor man.
Replysome of these guys are my favorite.
ReplyI would think that Dylan Baker is more like a Steve Buscemi. And how in the world did you not include Requiem for a Dream for Keith David and Batman: The Dark Knight for William Fitchner (his role as the banker, though short, was amazing!)
ReplyHow the hell is David Baker a poor man's Michael Clarke Duncan? Baker, a huge p***y, and Michael Clarke Duncan, a massive, ripped, black guy. I don't see the connection.
ReplyWatching David Morse hit Percy in the Green Mile was so f*****g awesome
ReplyDavid Morse was a boss in Disturbia
ReplyCracked got it wrong - Dylan Baker is a poor man's William H. Macy.
ReplyOl' Crommie! He rules.
ReplyMAKO
ReplyHow does one forget Keith David voiced in Halo 2?
ReplyAnd he is Mass Effects Admiral Anderson.
And Goliath (Gargoyles). He'll always be famous to me simply for that. :3
I quit reading when you said Jon Voight is better than Tom Wilkinson.
Replymust not have been around back when Voight was in his prime.
I think I would be scared to call Danny Trejo a poor man's anything. He almost became a pro boxer after all. Not to mention all the time he did in prison, who knows how many people he shanked, or punched to death for saying s**t about him.
ReplyBut Cromwell is a leading man! (Babe) How about Donald Moffat instead?
ReplyYeah, I'd be up for a Keith David/Moffat reunion!
William Fichtner is my favorite
ReplyIn many of these cases, I like the "that guy" way better than the actor they are a "poor man's" version of. For instance, David Paymer > Jon Lovitz.
Reply