50 Greatest Character Actors: 25 – 21

We’re halfway there!

25. Clint Howard

How many movies do you think Clint Howard has been in? 25? No even close. 50? Try again. 75? No soup for you! Actually, 75 is pretty close. It’s like 80. 80 films. That ain’t just frere Ron Howard flicks, though he’s in all of those. He also worked his way into every Austin Powers flick. But he’s this high on the list for sheer ubiquity of crap. He’s the epitome of “Hey, It’s That Guy!” especially for crappy, crappy flicks. Barb Wire? He’s there. He wasn’t in Leprechaun, Body Chemistry or The Dentist. No. He waited for Leprechaun II, Body Chemistry II, and The Dentist II. And the forebearance he displays with the Silent Night, Deadly Night series is astounding (he appears in 4 and 5). He waits for a series to be ripe before he contributes. And who could forget his turn as the creepy, crappy Ice Cream Man? There’s a reason the MTV Movie Awards gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Check Out: Every Ron Howard Film (actually, show some discretion), My Dog Skip, The Austin Powers Trilogy, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, Twilight, The Rocketeer, Tango & Cash, Pauly Shore Is Dead, Ice Cream Man, Humanoids from the Deep, Carnosaur

24. Tony Shalhoub

On the other end of the spectrum, in a sense, is Tony Shalhoub, copping small parts in great films: some Cohen Bros, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Primary Colors, A Civil Action. Bigger parts in good films: Men in Black, Galaxy Quest. And one or two awesome leads: Big Night, Monk. And through it all, he’s played every ethnicity except maybe Black or Asian.

Check out: Monk, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Barton Fink, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Big Night, Galaxy Quest, Men in Black, Primary Colors, A Civil Action, A Life Less Ordinary, Spy Kids, The Siege

Let’s try to forgive him for: Thir13en Ghosts

23. Christopher Guest

Christopher Guest may very well be the most talented man on this list. No offense to you other cats, but this guy also writes and directs and does a damn good job at it, too. He also casts like a motherfucker, corralling one of the most powerful stables of improvisational actors in modern cinema. And I haven’t even begun to speak of his range. You’ve got Count Rugen in The Princess Bride. Cold, calculating, hyper-intelligent. Then you’ve got Nigel Tufnel in This Is Spinal Tap. Warm, artistic, not-so-much with they hyper-intelligent. Both with different, authentic-sounding English accents. All the while this homeboy is from New York.

Check out: The Princess Bride, This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, A Few Good Men, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind

22. Judi Dench

If there’s a quality British film being made somewhere, you can bet Judi Dench is on the set. In a very short time, she became the name in austere English roles. It was probably Shakespeare in Love that did it for her, but she’d already played that other Queen with an entire age named after her in Mrs. Brown. And so when it came time to switch genders on M in the James Bond series, was there really any other choice? And when it came time to cast an authority figure in The Chronicles of Riddick…um…let’s just forget about that last one.

Check out: Henry V, Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat, A Room with a View, Mrs. Brown, Iris, Ladies in Lavender, Tea with Mussolini, Tomorrow Never Dies

Trivia: Has starred in 3 films with fellow Dame Maggie Smith: A Room with a View, Ladies in Lavender, and Tea with Mussolini

21. Alan Rickman

When Alan Rickman wowed audiences in ’88 as the perfect foil for Bruce Willis in Die Hard, he was fast-tracked to become the next go-to guy for villainy with similar turns in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Quigley Down Under (each of which he elevated the shit out of). But then something interesting happened. He showed range. As perennial nice guy Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility, he displayed an ability to not be the center of attention and still turn in a good performance. Then he took a completely different tack in Dogma. And another in Galaxy Quest. And so on…

But he can still project an aura of darkness. Just look at his Professor Snape.

Also, one of the best voices on this list. Nobody can deliver a line like this guy.

Check out: Something the Lord Made, Die Hard, Love Actually, Harry Potter flicks, Sense and Sensibility, Dogma, Galaxy Quest, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

I’m off to my Ten Year College Reunion (!!!), so blogging may be a little spotty for the next few days, but I’ll do my best. Keep your fingers crossed for a wireless signal.