Top 50 Character Actors: 40 – 36

40. Peter Sarsgaard

You really think after he got Oscar nom-jacked for Shattered Glass I was gonna leave him off this list? This man is THE man in underrated character actors. From his lip tremble in Kinsey (when you see it, you’ll know what I mean) to his Desert Storm card collection in Garden State, he just inhabits a role, usually coming off as disaffected with a vulnerable center. Nobody plays “don’t-give-a-fuck” like Sarsgaard.

Check out: Garden State, Boys Don’t Cry, Kinsey, Shattered Glass, K-19: The Widowmaker

39. Oliver Platt

I’ll be honest. My fondest memories of Oliver Platt are TV ones. Specifically, the end of Season 2 of The West Wing. Best. White House Counsel. Ever. But he’s made his mark on film as well. Usually not quite fitting in his surroundings, as the nature geek in Lake Placid or the tech geek in Executive Decision. But you can pretty much put him anywhere.

Check out: Kinsey, Pieces of April, Bulworth, Executive Decision, The Three Musketeers, Lake Placid

38. Kevin Pollack

He hasn’t been in that many movies. Scratch that. He hasn’t been in that many good movies. But he’s been in two that pretty much solidified him as movie helper. As Todd Hockney in character actor nirvana The Usual Suspects, he brings the comic relief (actually all of the criminals in that movie have a great sense of humor – except sourpuss Gabriel Byrne). Same in A Few Good Men, but with a Sorkin twist. If you want a wacky sidekick who actually seems like he could hold down a job, Pollack’s your man. Also, he does a killer Christopher Walken.

Check out: The Usual Suspects, Casino, A Few Good Men, Avalon, L.A. Story, The Aristocrats (Best. Walken. Ever.)

Trivia: He was with Paul Gleason (#41) in Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. I shit you not.

37. Jeremy Piven

If Kevin Pollack is movie helper, then Jeremy Piven is John Cusack helper, showing up to give the thespian a hand in Grosse Pointe Blank and Say Anything…. Who else is John gonna tell, “YOU MUST CHILL! I HAVE HIDDEN YOUR KEYS!”? Then again, you could also look at him as Cameron Crowe helper, performing a brief but unforgettable cameo in Singles that makes Campbell Scott blush. Or you could just compare his performances in Old School and Rush Hour 2 and say, “That boy’s got range!”

Check out: Say Anything… , Grosse Pointe Blank, Old School, Singles, Rush Hour 2, PCU

36. Pete Postlethwaite

Aside from being the Father in the name of, Postlethwaite has carved out a niche as the hip old guy. There he is helping out Leo and Claire in Romeo + Juliet. There he is as the ethnically ambiguous Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects. There he is in the opening strains of “Tubthumping,” in a speech lifted from Brassed Off. And in all of these he never appears as the same guy twice.

Check out: The Usual Suspects, In the Name of the Father, Brassed Off, Amistad, Romeo + Juliet