THAT Guy!

Mark Nelson
7 April 2003

We here at the Film Basement have long-appreciated the work of not just the big-name actors, but also of the bit players, character-actors if you will, who've played endless thugs, bad guys, clerks, and police sergeants, and newspaper vendors over the years. These are the actors whose name you don't know, but whose face you recognize immediately. "Hey, it's THAT Guy!" Often such actors are used in the same type or role again and again. There are some actors you see so often as the Chief of Police, that when you see them selling the Hero an ice cream cone, something feels wrong. Others are just reliable faces that can be used as "filler people" in any slot. We feel that these unsung actors deserve their moment in the spotlight, free from the shadows of the Name Talent they so often support.

This week: Gregg Henry

Typical role: The sleazy, double-dealing, always-smirking Bad Guy or small-time hood with dreams of glory.

Most recently spotted in: Fox's "24" playing a mysterious.........(wait for it).........Bad Guy.

With his slicked-back (bleached?) blond hair and squinty-eyed smirk, Henry managed to be both sleazy and clean-cut at the same time. Always seems to have a smile at the ready, and a knife behind his back when the protagonist is off-guard. Henry is one of THOSE Guys who even though he seems to be a Good Guy at the start, you KNOW he'll turn out to be a Bad Guy in the end (see Ed Lauter for another fine example of this type of actor).

Where you've probably seen him:
SCARFACE (1983)
BODY DOUBLE (1984)
RAISING CAIN (1992)
PAYBACK (1999)
FEMME FATALE (2002)
BALLISTIC: ECKS VS. SEVER (2002)

Check out Gregg Henry's extensive list of credits at The Internet Movie Database.