Peter Krause makes difficult men seem like people we might willingly spend time with. His work in Six Feet Under is particularly good: he keeps Nate Fisher approachable while leaving his failings in view.
Fi1m perspective
Nate Fisher can be difficult company, yet Peter Krause makes it easy to stay with him. In Six Feet Under (2001), he gives Nate a relaxed manner that keeps his less attractive qualities tolerable. Alongside Michael C. Hall's David, for whom an ordinary conversation can look exhausting, Krause makes ease itself useful to the ensemble. We warmed to Nate despite ourselves, because Krause made his failings feel like those of someone we already knew.
That ability has roots in comedy: his breakthrough leading role was Casey McCall in Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night (1998). In Alan Ball's Six Feet Under, Nate's family obligations compete with his wish to live on his own terms. Krause is well suited to that conflict because he can make Nate personable without making a case for everything he does. The performance lets us understand why people might put up with him, even when we would rather they did not.
The ensemble keeps that likeability in check. Frances Conroy's Ruth has strain in her composure, while Lauren Ambrose's Claire brings impatience to the family's heavier moods. Their performances make it harder to treat Nate's difficulties as the only ones that matter. We do occasionally tire of the programme's brooding, and Krause's charm cannot make every spell of it worthwhile.
Later came Adam Braverman in Parenthood (2010) and Bobby Nash in 9-1-1 (2018), further long-running ensemble roles. These parts continued a career built largely around men trying to manage obligations to other people, with time for their complications to emerge over many episodes. His attentiveness to other actors is a useful quality in programmes that ask us to return to the same people for years. Start with Six Feet Under, provided some family brooding sounds like an acceptable price for this company.
Biography
Peter Krause is an American actor. He studied English literature at Gustavus Adolphus College before completing an MFA in acting at New York University.
Krause is known for his leading television roles, including Casey McCall in Sports Night (1998–2000) and Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under (2001–2005). For the latter he received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Golden Globe Award nominations and seven Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, winning two for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Subsequent credits include Dirty Sexy Money (2007–2009), Parenthood (2010–2015) and 9-1-1 (2018–2025).
