davertfnewman Posted June 11, 2025 Posted June 11, 2025 Harris Yulin was great in so many things. I think of him from Scarface, Narrow Margin, and as Quentin Travers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Could come across just as well as a nice guy as he could as a bad guy. Quote
Paid Members Onyx2 Posted June 11, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 11, 2025 I came in here to talk Harris Yulin, and found out Brian Wilson had died. Shit. When I was very small a Beach Boys compilation was one of the few tapes we had in the car. I asked for it to be put on all the time. As I grew up I really started to understand what Brian Wilson was as the engine room of the group. Had a real dream-like experience watching Brian (plus Wondermints doing much heavy lifting) front row at Guilfest 2009 with @Midnight Zeus. As he started to sing about glorious California sun it started to drizzle. Somehow, perfect. Harris Yulin then. Literally last night I was enjoying his perfectly judged mafia boss in Frasier and saying to Mrs Onyx how much I enjoy him in everything. Excellent character actor across Buffy, 24, Ozark, Ghostbusters, X-Files, etc etc. Always a treat. Quote
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted June 11, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 11, 2025 Yeah, we're losing a lot of these great old character actors now. He was brilliant in Night Moves, probably my favourite role of his. Quote
huwbacca Posted June 12, 2025 Posted June 12, 2025 Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb passed away at 58. Hugely influential and a huge part of my old clubbing days. Quote
cobra_gordo Posted June 12, 2025 Posted June 12, 2025 Harris Yulin is probably my favourite thing about Ghostbusters 2 and he's in it for all of 5 minutes. Quote
Paid Members FLips Posted June 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 12, 2025 Harris Yulin was excellent in Scarface when I watched that the other week too. Quote
Paid Members Onyx2 Posted June 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 12, 2025 8 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said: Yeah, we're losing a lot of these great old character actors now. He was brilliant in Night Moves, probably my favourite role of his. Am I being a bit old-man-clouds or do people not get cast this way any more? Or do people take more care of themselves on average so you don't get these funky, crusty, unusual faces any more? Quote
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted June 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 12, 2025 31 minutes ago, Onyx2 said: Am I being a bit old-man-clouds or do people not get cast this way any more? Or do people take more care of themselves on average so you don't get these funky, crusty, unusual faces any more? They are out there but it's definitely a less of a thing these days. I think the reason for this is that there are just loads more films being made and released, so there are far more opportunities to be the lead actor in things. So actors tend not to get pigeonholed into being a 'character actor' as they have leads on their CV. For someone like Yulin, as great an actor as he was, realistically he was never going to get many lead roles as the opportunities to take them very limited. Studios could see his strengths as a supporting actor and as such that's where he was almost always cast. A lot of actors seem fine with that. Stephen Tobolowsky, I think it was, did an interview a good few years ago talking about how he loved being a face people always recognised when he appeared in something and that he could take more roles because shoots weren't very long for him. It tends to be the case that these great old character actors are brilliant when given a rare lead (look at Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas and Lucky) so in a way it could be interpreted as a bit of a demeaning term to use for them. They're just great actors full stop. But I think it's only ever used in complimentary or admiring ways. Quote
Paid Members Onyx2 Posted June 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 12, 2025 Sounds like a great gig to me. Rock up for 2 days' shooting, pack in more jobs per year and be remembered as that face, like Tobolowsky. And if it turns out to be a bomb it's not like it hinged on you. In fact you probably stole the scene you were in. Quote
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted June 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 12, 2025 8 minutes ago, Onyx2 said: Sounds like a great gig to me. Rock up for 2 days' shooting, pack in more jobs per year and be remembered as that face, like Tobolowsky. Case in point - Eric Roberts has 95 films listed on IMDb that are awaiting release. Quote
Paid Members gmoney Posted June 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 12, 2025 Eric Roberts later career is one of my obsessions. He will literally do anything. There's hundreds of credits on his IMDB where he can't have been paid, some of them filmed over Zoom. But that will be mixed in with a multi episode arc on The Righteous Gemstones. Quote
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted June 12, 2025 Moderators Posted June 12, 2025 Stephen Tobolowsky did his Glee audition with a broken freakin' neck and got the part. He's the Hollywood Kurt Angle. Quote
Chili Posted June 12, 2025 Posted June 12, 2025 I love those types of actors. Tobolowski and what have you. JT Walsh etc. Always a professional guaranteed top notch spot on performance. What every above has said essentially. Not demeaning to not be a 'STAR', but they'll give you a performance to remember. In the case of British based actors of the day, there is a superb website called 'Familiar Unknown' that covers them that I enjoy. https://familiar-unknown.blogspot.com/?m=1 Quote
Paid Members BomberPat Posted June 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted June 12, 2025 1 hour ago, gmoney said: Eric Roberts later career is one of my obsessions. He will literally do anything. There's hundreds of credits on his IMDB where he can't have been paid, some of them filmed over Zoom. But that will be mixed in with a multi episode arc on The Righteous Gemstones. Imagine the scripts he turns down! Quote
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