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Q: I was just rewatching the miniseries "11.22.63," and I'm wondering who the actor is who played the diner owner. I know I've seen him in things.

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

It's not quite accurate to call Chris Cooper a character actor. Usually when you're watching something and say, "Hey, it's that guy," you've spotted a character actor -- a term reserved for actors who disappear into all sorts of different roles. They don't have a "type," they fill whatever hole needs filling.

Cooper, on the other hand, is definitely an "it's that guy" sort of actor, in that he's had a great and accomplished career as an Oscar-winning supporting star, but he has firmly developed a type. Cooper is your go-to man if you need a grouch.

Maybe it's his growly voice, or his piercing eyes, but he's made a name for himself as a short-tempered, stern authority figure. He'd been kicking around the business for more than a decade, playing lots of different roles, before having his breakout year in 1999. That year would also somewhat define his type, as he got a lot of accolades for playing two hard fathers, in "October Sky" and "American Beauty."

His type has led to him playing all sorts of military men, such as in 2000's "The Patriot" and 2005's "Jarhead," and spy bureaucrats in "The Bourne Identity" (2002) and "Breach" (2005).

This isn't to say Cooper doesn't have range, as some of his biggest roles have gone against this type. Most notably, he got his Oscar for playing an eccentric, countercultural botanist in 2002's "Adaptation."

 

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