3 Character Actors Who Should Be Household Names

A character actor is a kind of an actor who is not very famous but works often and is usually pretty good at their job.  The people in this position are pretty much guaranteed to not be known by name by the average viewer.  By face, they may be known by millions but by name they are known only as "he was in... uh... ahh... what was it... ehh... ahh... *reaches for phone but doesn't know what to type into search bar, moves on with life*."  The only character actor who might be considered a household name is Christopher Walken.  J.K. Simmons could be close since Whiplash came out but that probably won't last much longer.  They're both very talented and deserving of the attention but there are a lot of people who are good at acting and as worthy of praise as the A-list stars at the award ceremonies.

Ray Wise

If you know who Ray Wise is then you're probably a fan of Twin Peaks so congratulations on seeing the appeal of that show which eludes me so.  Although I can't seem to work up any lasting interest in Twin Peaks, and I have tried several times, Ray Wise's performance as Leland Palmer is by far my favorite part.  I first became aware of Wise for his role as The Devil in the decent supernatural comedy Reaper where he was once again easily the best part.  Wise also has some impressive film credits, most notably 1987's RoboCop.  Recently, Wise has had recurring roles in Mad Men and Fresh Off The Boat.  In 2017 he will return as Leland Palmer in the new Twin Peaks sequel series so I guess it's about time I gave it another shot because I'm desperate to like everything so that maybe everyone will like me.

Ethan Suplee

Ethan Suplee is probably best known as a fat teenager in the mid to late 90's, playing a bully with the soul of a poet in Boy Meets World and a white football player with soul in Remember the Titans.  Around the same time he also appeared in a few Kevin Smith movies, most memorably as the guy staring at a Magic Eye poster who just can't seem to find the sailboat.  In 2005 he played a major role in My Name is Earl as the titular Earl's brother Randy.  Many of Suplee's characters are remarkably naive and innocent like Randy or Louie in Titans.  Others are more aggressive, the most extreme probably being a neo-Nazi skinhead in American History X.  Recently, Suplee dropped some pounds, allowing him to play a husky dirt bag in The Wolf of Wall Street.  ("Dirt bag" might sound harsh but it accurately describes every single character in that movie.)

Peter Boyle

Through the late 90's and early 00's Peter Boyle was a familiar face to many thanks to his role as the crotchety grandfather Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond.  However, Boyle had a fascinating career for decades before that.  He appeared in at least two bonafide film classics in the 70's.  He played Wizard in Scorsese's Taxi Driver and Frankenstein's monster in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.  Before that he played the lead role in the critically acclaimed Joe from director John G. Avildsen.  Outside of Joe, Frankenstein and Raymond Boyle rarely played lead roles but he was fantastic in all of them, big or small, right up to his death in 2006.  Unfortunately, my favorite Boyle performance is almost impossible to find online.  I don't know why.  I can't imagine there being any legal difficulties with a couple of Marlon Brando impressions and some banjo music but if you ever get a chance to watch the "Dueling Brando's" sketch from SNL I highly recommend it.