That Guy!

Tom Maguire
4 June 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, police sergeants, and newspaper vendors over the years. These are the actors whose name you don't know, but whose face you recognize immediately. 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: Peter Jason

Typical Role: Utility everyman

Most recently seen in: Adaptation (2002) and a recent Microsoft .Net ad.

A frequent actor in many John Carpenter and Walter Hill movies, Peter Jason began his big screen acting career way back when in the Howard Hawks film Rio Lobo (1970). Alternating between big pictures, movies you've never heard of, and the more than occasional television appearance, Peter Jason is a guy who's instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the underground John Carpenter classic They Live (1988). Appearing in a constant stream of films over the last 25 years, Jason is the quintessential face without a name showing up in six movies a year or more as in 1984, 1995, and 2002. His pattern of work continues this year with an appearance in Seabiscuit with Tobey Maguire and Detonator starring Randall Batinkoff (?).

Where you've probably seen him:
48 Hrs. (1982)
The Karate Kid (1984)
Prince of Darkness (1987)
They Live (1988)
Mortal Kombat (1995)
Dante's Peak (1997)

Check out Peter Jason's full list of credits at The Internet Movie Database.
And also the excellent bio at TheOfficialJohnCarpenter.com