32 Character Actors You Would Recognize, Even If You Don’t Know Their Names

For every Denzel Washington or Julia Roberts, there are hundreds of actors who help populate our favorite movies and TV shows, and bring to life essential characters for our beloved stars to work for, fight with, date, and more on screen. Many of these actors, while not so famous that they have name recognition to the general public, could be said to be “face famous.” Here’s a list of 32 character actors you’d recognize, even if you don’t know their names.

Ted Levine

If you’ve seen The Silence of the Lambs you’ve likely been creeped out by Ted Levine. He portrayed Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb in that 1991 classic, and has since been in a number of movies, like The Fast and the Furious, Ali, American Gangster, Shutter Island, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Meanwhile, on TV he’s known for work in innumerable shows such as Ray Donovan, The Alienist and Monk, where he played Captain Leland Stottlemeyer for all 124 episodes and the 2023 Peacock movie.