Ted Levine

Ted Levine's gruff voice sounds suited to giving orders. It helps explain the captains and wardens, but the more interesting quality is his ability to make sternness sympathetic. We value that in a supporting actor: someone who can suggest a person worth knowing without asking the whole film to stop for him. There is a limitation, too, in casting that relies on his sound to supply menace before a character has been given much else to do.

His breakout as Jame Gumb in Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs (1991) brought the danger of being hired to frighten people on repeat. The villainous parts that followed were understandable casting, but a narrow use of an actor capable of sympathy. We were frightened by The Silence of the Lambs because Jodie Foster keeps the investigation personal; the danger feels close to someone we care about. We recommend it for Levine, but also for the care Demme takes with the people his antagonist threatens.

Heat (1995) puts him in Michael Mann's ensemble as Bosko, a supporting part after that breakthrough. Mann gives the pursuit time for loneliness and damaged relationships, and that patience suits an actor who need not be the centre of attention to be useful. We recommend the film just as strongly, with the caveat that its characters sometimes explain themselves too much. Levine's presence is a reason to look beyond the frightening roles, and Mann gives the supporting cast room within the pursuit.

The substantial turn comes with Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in Monk (2002–2009), where that familiar authority has a continuing place in an ensemble. A regular role allows the steady supporting player to become someone worth returning to, which is an achievement easily taken for granted. He plays a warden in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (2010), further evidence of how readily he suggests someone in charge. For a longer acquaintance, try Monk, where he has time to work.