The actor: David Alan Grier was already a Tony-nominated actor (for playing Jackie Robinson in the musical The First) before making his big-screen debut in the Robert Altman drama, Streamers, but he’s spent most of his career alternately resisting and listening to the siren song of comedy. A bit part in one Keenen…

The actor: Jonathan Pryce is perfect for British Actor Bingo, having played The Master in Doctor Who, a Bond villain in Tomorrow Never Dies, stolen scenes on Game Of Thrones, and even taken on London’s most famous detective for Sherlock Holmes And The Baker Street Irregulars. Pryce first stepped in front of the…

The actor: Alan Ruck got his start in Chicago theater before gradually transitioning into on-camera work by picking up roles in films and TV series produced in the area. After making the jump to Broadway by scoring a role in Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues, Chicago once again played a big role in his life, as the city was…

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Back in 2015, Brian Huskey joined us for a Random Roles interview where he talked to us about playing Regular-Sized Rudy on Bob’s Burgers and writing his first film with Matt Walsh, A Better You.

While promoting the Taken-esque, vigilante action-thriller Harry Brown back in 2010, Emily Mortimer joined us for a Random Roles where she talked to us about Lars And The Real Girl, Transsiberian, and 30 Rock.

The actor: Alan Cumming began his acting career in Scotland, working in the theater and taking on whatever TV or film roles might come his way. By 1991, he’d won his first Olivier Award and soon became a familiar face to U.K. audiences. Things took off for him in a big way in the mid-1990s, thanks both to high-profile…

The actor: Clancy Brown is an actor who’s managed to construct a career where he gets nearly as much work in front of the camera as he does in the recording studio. As a voice actor, Brown was fortunate enough to secure a gig that’s kept him gainfully employed since 1999: playing Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants. In…

The actor: Ivonne Coll first stepped onto the international stage as Miss Puerto Rico in the 1967 Miss Universe Pageant, but she had no intention of being an actress. She worked as a bit comedian and showgirl before scoring a small role in a huge movie, and her time on the set of The Godfather Part II put her on a new…

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.