I got very tired of clicking all the way through, so I don't know if he's on the list, but...
On last night's "Important Things", there was a recurring sketch of an S&M couple who picks "Bill Pullman" as their safeword. Alas, the man can't remember his name.

CaptainB | March 12, 13:24 CET

Nope, though Pullman does appear in a photo for someone else (that guy that played the secretary of defence in 'Independence Day').

Harry Lennix appears on the list BTW further up too. 'Dollhouse' gets a mention.

As ever, theses things vary. A lot of them are, if not "household names", at least very well known to me. I mean, JK Simmons ?

Saje | March 12, 13:32 CET

Harry Lennix resembles Barack Obama? What?

frostcircus | March 12, 14:11 CET

Harry Lennix and Anthony Head have both appeared as Sebastian's crush on Little Britain, and the heroine's father figure in a Joss Whedon series. Coincidence?

mr_waterproof | March 12, 14:46 CET

Until Firefly, Adam Baldwin has always been "that guy" for me. I'd see him and in my head I would say, "Oh, there's that guy!" and I was always more interested in what he was doing then whoever else was on the screen.

NYPinTA | March 12, 14:52 CET

AB will always be Ricky Linderman to me.

alexreager | March 12, 14:53 CET

Fuckin' Animal-Mother yo !

For me anyway ;).

Saje | March 12, 14:57 CET

By the way, if you've never seen the young adult classic, My Bodyguard , with Baldwin, Matt Dillon, Chris Makepeace, Martin Mull, Ruth Gordon (who steals the movie) and John Houseman, you totally need to put it on your NetFlix queue.

It's really a classic. I recommended it to a co-worker and she and her boyfriend watched it together. They hated it. They said it was way to "70's-ish." (What does she know about 70's-ishness? She was born in 1985. Bah.) I say it was pure awesomeness.

alexreager | March 12, 15:28 CET

Hmm, seen it mentioned favourably before but you've just tipped me over the edge alexreager, bought it (it was only three quid for the DVD including P&P, worth a punt I reckon).

Saje | March 12, 15:45 CET

He will always be Animal Mother to me.

Animal Mother | March 12, 16:02 CET

I agree alexreager, I've been a fan of Adam Baldwin ever since I first saw 'My Bodyguard' (in the 70s) and I'm surprised they didn't even mention that film at the empireonline site. I'm so happy with his role on 'Chuck', Casey is almost as interesting as Jayne Cobb!

embers | March 12, 16:30 CET

I didn't click through the whole list but I feel like Luiz Guzman is a name people know. I also have liked "My Bodyguard" since I was a kid. I have a soft spot for movies shot in Chicago.

The Operative | March 12, 16:49 CET

They're all great character actors to be sure. I don't think I'd label half of them as "that actor." I was kinda surprised there were only 5 females, and three of whom definitely aren't "that actor."

I'll add to the My Bodyguard love. Don't forget the terrible movie DC Cab. It's terrible, but I love watching it.

thatweirdgirl | March 12, 17:13 CET

On seeing the shoutout to Christine Baranski's role on "Cybill," it hit me that that show was really the American Ab-Fab!

Rusty626 | March 12, 19:11 CET

One of the ultimate "that guys" for me has always been Vincent Schiavelli... he was in EVERYTHING... including Buffy. ;)

(And, have to add to the My Bodyguard love... if I hadn't already been predisposed to watch Firefly because of Joss, I would have anyway for Adam Baldwin since I was a fan since seeing My Bodyguard when I was 11!)

lisaspo | March 12, 19:53 CET

You are 100% right lisaspo!!! Vincent Schiavelli is totally a "that guy." I know he's an evil gypsy dude from Ms. Calendar's past but for me, he's always going to be that gross highschool biology teacher in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mr. Vargas (I think).

Another one for me is Michael Ironside . That guy scared the hell out of me as a pre-teen when I saw Scanners.

And I left the best for last, Mike Starr. His wife used to work with my brother. I begged him to ask for a signed photo but he always felt weird asking. That guy has been in everything as well. (He was even a ball player in my fave baseball movie, The Natural.)

alexreager | March 12, 21:01 CET

Ooh, yeah Vincent Schiavelli is very "that guy" (probably that angry guy from 'Ghost' for me), good call lisaspo.

But Michael Ironside is just Michael Ironside to me, I mean, he's in loads of stuff but I know his name (and have for years). He's one of the guys on the list that's not a "that guy" for me he's just a, err, guy. Ronny Cox was another one among quite a few others.

Saje | March 12, 21:39 CET

Adam Baldwin will aways be "That guy that's not Alec or his brothers brother" to me!:)

Little Green Kid | March 12, 21:57 CET

I think one of my first "that guy" moments was actually watching Better Off Dead and recognizing Vincent Schiavelli as that guy who smeared the mustard on Henry Winkler's door in Night Shift. :)

The thing about Michael Ironside is that my dad used to always tease me because I'd confuse him and Kurtwood Smith... "no, he's not the guy from XXXXX, he's the guy from YYYYY." :P

lisaspo | March 12, 22:08 CET

And Saje--I didn't read the list before making that post about Michael Ironside. How cool is that?! I'm on the same page as the guys at Empire Online (whatever that is)!

alexreager | March 12, 22:19 CET

At my brother's graduation, a prof mentioned in his speech that Michael Ironside (an alumnist from the College of Art) was nicknamed "Stinky". I can't look at him the same way again.

I think of the late Mr. Schiavelli as Miss Dipesto's husband (Moonlighting), although they broke up before his death. And the guy with the conjoined twin from The X-Files.

redeem147 | March 12, 22:34 CET

Oh yeah, that X-Files episode ruled ! It's the one with the Jim Rose Circus, brilliant TV, one of the eps that put X-Files right near the top of the list for genre shows that also do genuinely great funny episodes. Jeez, Vincent Schiavelli really was in everything.

And Saje--I didn't read the list before making that post about Michael Ironside. How cool is that?!

You and Empire magazine, clearly sympatico ;).

(I don't usually bother with these ones where you have to click through X many pages but this one was strangely intriguing to me)

Saje | March 12, 23:22 CET

There's that word again. :-). But I know what you mean - it *was* intriguing, in an "He was A in B, but did you know he was also X in Y?" type way. . . Some, like Luis Guzman, are very familiar to me ('cos I'm a big fan of Boogie Nights); others, like anyone who was in Dances With Wolves, which I've never seen but which is apparently an Empire favorite, not so.

I expected to see James Cromwell, just because the man is prolific, yet his is not a name folks typically recognize without context - which is sort of my working definition of "That guy from that thing", - but maybe he's actually a bona fide star-type guy these days.

SoddingNancyTribe | March 13, 00:44 CET

Oh, he's that guy! Excellent read, thanks!

Madhatter | March 13, 01:19 CET

It's funny to get to know an actor in a longer lasting or more highlighted role, like Adam Baldwin with Firefly, then see their credits and realize you've seen them before, you just don't remember them (Independance Day for example...I only watched the finale of The X-Files' ninth season, so I mostly missed him in that, but did remember his face come Firefly). I saw Full Metal Jacket when Firefly was airing specifically for him and because it was Kubrick, but didn't know what role he was playing, so for a while there I thought he was the main character of the first half of the film, until I paused it, looked at IMDb, and realized that was Vincent D'Onofrio before he slimmed down.

There are a ton of folks on that list who aren't "Hey it's that guy!" to me. Catherine O'hara was the mom from the first two Home Alone flicks and has been in tons of other roles (she was a great bitch on the third season of Six Feet Under too).

Can't go through the rest of the list now, gotta eat. Thai time !

Kris | March 13, 01:32 CET

And hello...Mary McDonnell at #10. We ALL know her. And Catherine O'Hara was also the crazy mom in Beetlejuice. Love her!

madmolly | March 13, 02:06 CET

Catherine O'hara was the mom from the first two Home Alone flicks and has been in tons of other roles (she was a great bitch on the third season of Six Feet Under too).

SCTV. Nuff said.

redeem147 | March 13, 02:46 CET

Miguel Ferrer, yay!

Jeffrey Tambor, Catherine O'Hara and Christine Baranski are on this list? What?

[ edited by timeerkat on 2009-03-13 06:41 ]

timeerkat | March 13, 06:41 CET

I would say some of the most frequent 'that guy's would definitely have to be Vincent Schiavelli (am I the only person in the BtVS fandom who yaps about him constantly?--IMO, he's one of the most recognizable faces in cinematic history--in fact, his appearance was due to Marfan's syndrome), Jeffrey Jones (Amadeus, Beetlejuice, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sleepy Hollow, The Crucible), Bill Pullman (Casper, Spaceballs), Catherine O'Hara (Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice), Tom Hulce (Amadeus, Animal House, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, The Hunchback of Notre Dame--I'm in that rare breed of Internet people who have made a whole lot of Amadeus fan art), etc... A lot of these people crossover everywhere in '70s-'80s-'90s films, but aren't perhaps household names.

My '70s-'80s-'90s movie familiarity becomes very clear when I get excited about Mark Metcalf (The Master a.k.a. Animal House's infamous Neidermeyer), Roy Dotrice (played both Wesley's and Wolfgang's overbearing, vindictive fathers with genius sons in AtS and Amadeus--geez, talk about typecasting) and Vincent Schiavelli (Ghost, Amadeus, Batman Returns, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, etc...).

Also, I've never been able to connect to Richard Riehle as the BtVS T.V. show Merrick because I still see him as Muff Potter from Tom & Huck (I'm showing my age on that one). Then again, I also have trouble not seeing Donald Sutherland as Prof. Jennings in Animal House.

Also, the director of Welcome to the Hellmouth was Charles Martin Smith (American Graffiti, The Buddy Holly Story, Starman, etc...). He is the very definition of 'that guy'.

[ edited by NileQT87 on 2009-03-13 10:08 ]

NileQT87 | March 13, 09:52 CET