Friday Familiar Faces: Paul Schneider

Welcome to a semi-regular 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.

Paul Schneider
Where you’ve seen him most recently: As a prospective father in desperate need of sperm in “The Babymakers” and as journalist Brian Brenner on “The Newsroom.”

Where you might have first seen him: Opposite Zooey Deschanel in the 2003 drama “All the Real Girls.”

Other notable appearances: As the kindly brother-in-law of the title character in “Lars and the Real Girl,” a promiscuous outlaw in “The Assassination of Jesse James,” and John Krasinski’s brother in “Away We Go,” as well as small roles in the supporting cast of “Elizabethtown” and “The Family Stone.” On TV, as city manager Mark Brendanawicz in the first two seasons of “Parks and Recreation.”

What you might expect from him: A mild-mannered, sarcastic, likeable everyman with a tendency to attract the affection of the women around him. It’s that typical role that made his standout turn in “Bright Star” as the good friend of John Keats who has an antagonistic relationship with his love Fanny Brawne so fantastic.