Charles Napier

In Philadelphia (1993), Charles Napier's Judge Garnett is a compassionate man with a face that casting directors had often put to less kindly use. That square jaw and heavy brow suggest someone accustomed to being obeyed; the gruff voice helps. We like the decision to let those qualities belong to a decent man. It gives an actor so often cast as a heavy something to do besides warn us whom to distrust.

Napier's early film work was with Russ Meyer in the late 1960s, before a long run of supporting parts in films and television. Jonathan Demme became a recurring collaborator from Citizens Band (1977) onwards. As the irate bandleader Tucker McElroy in The Blues Brothers (1980), Napier put his imposing presence to comic use. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) gave him a more familiar assignment as the villainous official Marshall Murdock.

In The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Napier's Lieutenant Boyle has a small place in a film we recommend without hesitation. We were frightened by Anthony Hopkins's conversations, because his delivery makes the ordinary act of listening feel dangerous. Napier's presence draws on the police and military roles that had made him familiar, rather than asking him to surprise us. We value that reliability, while recognising how often such casting could leave him repeating himself.

Philadelphia gives that authority a gentler use, although the part was reduced in the edit. Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington make its plea for decency affecting; the script explains too much and leaves too little space for gay life. Demme's choice of Napier as a compassionate judge suggests why the partnership was worthwhile: the actor's severity need not always tell us to expect cruelty. Watch Philadelphia for the gentler Napier; just allow for a script that keeps explaining itself.