Here at GQ, we’re in the business of guys. Young leading men. Hollywood titans. Athletes of all types, musicians of all forms. Naturally, we’re also in the business of That Guys.
You know the guys I’m talking about—stalwart character actors with IMDb pages a mile long. You may not know their names, but you know their faces. And you feel a certain warmth, excitement, and familiarity when they pop up in a movie or TV show. Hey, you think, it’s that guy. When you see them, you have a personal guarantee that whatever you’re watching just got that much better.
In some ways, there’s never been a better time to be one of these guys, what with the absolute bounty of streaming series. The internet also has a knack for enthusiastically coalescing around what may seem, at face value, to be unlikely subjects—we’re thrilled, for instance, to be able to type the words “Shea Whigham fancam.”
So, to acknowledge this rich and thriving ecosystem of guys, we gathered GQ staff and contributors to share their appreciation of that one That Guy they feel a special affinity for. And, of course, to answer the age-old question: Who’s your guy?
Shea Whigham
Let’s get right out of the gate with a classic: my man Shea Whigham. He first caught my attention in the carnival of Guys that was Boardwalk Empire (led, of course, by That Guy-turned-American icon Steve Buscemi). Between Boardwalk and Perry Mason, I’ll always associate Whigham with smoky HBO shows, invariably involving him wearing some kind of historically accurate hat. But Whigham also has a solid, competent quality that’s seen him more and more frequently drafted into blockbusters, from Fast & Furious to Kong: Skull Island to last year’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. When you get him in a comedy—particularly a comedy from the Danny McBride Cinematic Universe—the results are sublime. In sum: I’m proud to be a card-carrying member of the Whig Party. And you know who else is? Elite That Guy Walton Goggins. When Goggins spoke to Vulture last year about a pilot he was once making with Whigham, he recalled saying, “Just get me Shea Whigham, He’s the sauce, he’s the special, special sauce.” Preach it! — Gabriella Paiella
Stephen Root
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