Friday Familiar Faces: Ted Levine

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe! There are plenty of actors out there who people recognize by face but can’t identify because they just don’t tend to get the leading roles. There is a fantastic book (and website) dedicated to this phenomenon, appropriately titled “Hey! It’s That Guy” and touting the fantastic J.T. Walsh as the ultimate recognizable everyman.

This series will spotlight an actor or actress who has recently turned in a notable or scene-stealing performance and showcase some of their best cinematic appearances. More than other any feature, this series will merge the worlds of television and film as needed to highlight a performer’s best and most recognizable work.

Ted Levine

Where you’ve seen him most recently: He’s been on TV a lot recently, playing a recurring part in “Luck” and a memorable role in the pilot of “Hell on Wheels”

Where you might have first seen him: As Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs,” the killer about whom Clarice Starling is speaking with Hannibal Lecter

Other notable appearances: He’s probably best known for his eight-year stint as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer on USA’s “Monk.” He was an AFT Award winner for his limited performance as the warden in “Shutter Island,” and should also be familiar from his roles in “American Gangster,” “The Assassination of Jesse James,” and “The Fast and the Furious.” Channeling his psychopathic side, he was also the voice of the killer Rusty Nail in the 2001 film “Joy Ride.”

What you might expect from him: Either a terrifying villain or an officer of the law. The former comes with a lack of emotion, while the latter includes sarcasm and steadfastness. Both are equally fascinating, though entirely different.