Today I want to talk about thankless actors. They are not necessarily Emmy worthy (although, in some cases, maybe they are). They often also play unlikable characters, or minor but crucial roles. In most cases, however, they are surrounded by other actors who get most of the attention on the particular shows they are on. They wake up every morning, put in an awesome day of work, and go home and watch others around them collect the awards trophies. Or they take on roles in which the character is despised by the audience, and despite that, they go in every day and try to make that character as despicable as possible. They are what makes great television possible, and they provide the backs upon which higher-profile actors climb to collect their Emmy gold. They deserve some proper recognition, damnit.
Rick Hoffman — Rick Hoffman plays Louis Litt on the USA Network show, Suits. You may know him best as the not particularly attractive character on the show, but he has also been crucial to elevating the series above a pedestrian USA Network dramedy and into one in which many of us have become hugely invested: He’s the bully, and the bullied, the enemy, and the one with which we sympathize. He is the most human, well-drawn character on the show, but because he’s not (necessarily) the one who sends everyone to their bunk, he’s sadly often overlooked, despite the fact that he’s the fulcrum on the show upon which most of the interoffice politics rest.
Zach Woods — Known best as Gabe on The Office, Woods had the misfortune of playing one of television’s least liked sitcom characters for years, but credit Woods for transforming that character from a smarmy know-it-all into a creepy comedic stalker, and allowing us to hate him even more. In an even smaller role, he did great work on Veep this season, in particular one scene in which he laid down a few of the season’s best insults that quickly made me realize that Zach Woods is not Gabe: He’s actually a great actor. (He may have the best scene in all of The Heat, too, which is saying a lot considering how good Melissa McCarthy was in that).
Lucy Liu — Better known by most for her feature film work in the Charlie’s Angels movies and Kill Bill, Liu was unbelievably great in the fourth season of Southland, which is where I realized that I could actually like a Liu character. She parlayed that role into Joan Watson on Elementary, where she had the deck stacked against her, not only by the BBC’s “Sherlock” and her brilliant British counterpart, played by Martin Freeman, but the fact that she was playing the first major female version of that character. Credit to Liu for making that character both sympathetic and likable, and for bringing out the human in Johnny Lee Miller’s Sherlock.
Timothy Simons — Simons sole purpose through two seasons of “Veep” is to be a punching bag. No one gets insulted more than Simons’ Jonah Ryan, and no one on television gets called worse names, and yet, he manages to maintain his ego and cluelessness. You’d expect any character in that position to have blown his brains out by now, but Simons is good enough in the role that we believe that the insults somehow roll off his back, and he never wavers in his obnoxiousness.
Annet Mahendru — Most of the attention for The Americans is focussed on Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys’ stellar performances as Russian spies posing as a normal American family, and Noah Emmerich’s stellar supporting turn as the FBI agent. But Annet Mahendru — who plays Nina, a character is playing both sides of the Cold War — uses a heady mixture of sexuality, vulnerability, and intelligence to spare her own life, and in many cases, fuel the plot of The Americans. In a show that is often too grim for its own good, Mahendru brings some light in.
C.S. Lee — There’s damn near no one left on Dexter who is likable. Most of the supporting characters have worn out their welcome; Dexter has all but abandoned the code; and Debra Morgan — after developing a sexual crush on her brother, and later abandoning her own code — has become something of a farce. But C.S. Lee, who plays Masuka, has managed to be that one glimmer of comedic light on a drama that used to have a considerable amount of dark humor running through it. At this point, C.S. Lee’s character provides the only levity, and no one ever gives him credit for injecting an occasional jolt of humor into Dexter.
Charles Dance — All the attention is focused on George R.R. Martin for the source material, Peter Dinklage for the acting talent, Emilia Clarke for the dragons, half the cast for the nudity, and Jack Gleeson for being the evil little sh*t that he is. But, Charles Dance’s Tywin Lannister is the true force behind the series, the man behind the plotting, who sets all the deliciously fun plots into motion. Dance is a quiet terror, but because he’s not sexy or inhumanely evil, that character often doesn’t get the attention that it deserves.
Gretchen Mol — Formerly one of Harvey’s girls, Mol somehow survived that curse and managed to climb back into a pivotal role on one of television’s best dramas. Hers is also one of the more thankless roles on television: An unlikable brothel owner who was once in love with her own son, Mol plays an antagonist on Boardwalk Empire, but never THE antagonist. Nevertheless, she’s completely owned several scenes over the course of the drama’s three seasons, and while everyone around her seems to die or flee, Mol’s character — like the actress herself — continues to survive, if not at times, to thrive.
Vincent Kartheiser — It’s amazing to me that, in six seasons that has seen Mad Men dominate the Emmys, that Vincent Kartheiser has never even been nominated. He’s the best weasel on television, and credit to Kartheiser for occasionally making the character sympathetic, but even more credit goes to the actor for creating one of those characters we love to hate every single week. He’s so good, in fact, that there exists such a thing as a Pete Campbell apologist.
Matt Czuchry — The Good Wife is basically the only drama on the networks anymore that ever gets much in the way of awards recognition, but most of that recognition is paid toward Julianna Marguiles and Archie Panjabi (and for good reason). But through the series’ run, Czuchry’s character, Cary Agos, has made a remarkable transformation from the smug first-year associate to what is now the show’s moral center. He’s gone from anti-hero to hero, and it has never once felt unrealistic.
