It's That Guy! Y'know...he was in...uh...

You know the guy. He's that utility-player actor who has been in a thousand movies, usually playing the same type. You've seen him countless times, but you've never known his name. He's That Guy. He's the journeyman character actor who never makes it into the tabloids, isn't a Scientologist, isn't into Kaballah, but has 100+ credits on his IMDB page. He's the backbone of the industry. Thus, please enjoy the following listing of the top 15 That Guys of all time (in no particular order):

15. M. Emmett Walsh

A Coen brothers regular, Emmett generally plays the rough guy in the rumpled suit. My all-time favorite role of his is the hitman-turned-P.I. from The Jerk- "These cans! He hates these cans!"

14. Reginald VelJohnson

I don't know if there are many movies or shows this guy has been in wherein he doesn't play a cop. From Family Matters to Die Hard, he's always the fat and jolly police officer with the sarcastic streak. Fun fact- he's gay!

13. Danny Trejo

Who he plays- scary Latino guys. From the knife-thrower in "Desperado" to the rose-tattoo rapist in "Con Air", he's always a badass bastard. It's not really his fault, though. I mean c'mon- look at him.

12. Maury Chaykin

His speciality seems to be sweaty creeps. My favorite role of his is as the crazy officer at the beginning of Dances With Wolves- "Good Sir Knight! I've just pissed in my pants and there's nothing that you or anyone else can do about it!"

11. Fred Thompson

Okay, so now he's gone beyond just acting. He's been a senator, a lawyer, an actor, and a presidential candidate. His speciality in the 80's and 90's was "uptight government/military prick". He pretty much has the market cornered on playing White House Chiefs of Staff, too. He's done it 432 times. Seriously.

10. Bob Balaban

Some know him best as a Christopher Guest movie standby, while others know him as the head of NBC from Seinfeld. Either way, he has always excelled at being the deadpan nebbish.

9. Philip Baker Hall

Speaking of Seinfeld, he played the all-time greatest one-off character on that show (and that includes Sue Ellen Mishkie and the Soup Nazi), when he was Mr. Bookman the library cop. Always the "gruff older man who talks fast", you're afraid to say anything to him, lest he smacks you in the back of the head.

8. Michael Ironside

A study done by Columbia University in 2006 proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there has not been a military-themed movie or TV show produced in the past 20 years that has not featured Michael Ironside. He so has the cold, unfeeling, quick-to-rage officer thing down that he shows up on set with his own uniform, which is surgically attached to his body.

7. Patrick Crenshaw

Now dead, he was the standard of "old coots" for the past 20 years. When you needed a really, really, really, really old dude to sit around looking confused, he was your man. You're my boy, Blue!

6. Brad Dourif

This guy never should have been a "That Guy". He was nomintated for an Oscar for playing the stuttering Billy Bibbitt in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, then dove right to the discount bin by playing the "creepy guy" in 19 out of every 20 straight-to-video movies since 1985. His only major role since Cuckoo's Nest (aside from being the voice of Chuckie in the Child's Play movies) was as the weasely Grima Wormtongue on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

5. James Rebhorn

He's a military prick or a college prick or a small-town prick or a corporate prick. So yeah, he just plays pricks.

4. Robert Davi

Agent Johnson...no, the other one. If he's not a hospital corners/by-the-book federal agent, he's usually a slimy drug dealer or hitman. He also has the greatest acne pock-marked face of all "That Guys"

3. Miguel Ferrer

You need a gravel-voiced asshole for your movie? Look no further than Miguel Ferrer. When all the other "smarmy, jerk-in-a-suit" character actors get together, they call Miguel "boss".

2. Paul Dooley

If you look up "hangdog" in the dictionary, there'll be a picture of Paul. I don't know that I've ever seen him actually express an emotion on screen. He's the caring-yet-aloof dad, the caring-yet-aloof grandpa or the caring-yet-aloof boss. We'll even forgive him for forgetting Molly Ringwald's 16th birthday.

1. JT Walsh

I give you JT Walsh- the undisputed champion of That Guys. They should rename the whole group of That Guys "The JT Walshes". Depressingly, there will never be a new champ, as JT is dead. Evidently born with that seemingly immovable hair, he was the suicidal right-hand-man in A Few Good Men, he was the scuzzy mental patient in Sling Blade, he was the judge in Pleasantville- the list goes on and on. When you needed a guy who could play the semi-likable asshole, there was no one better than JT.

So there ya have it. By no means a complete list, though, so please feel free to suggest others in the comments section.