WILLIAM H. MACY: The 25 Greatest Actors Of The '90s

“In [Fargo] he became Mr. Lundegaard. When Joel and Ethan [Coen] met him, I remember them saying he changed their perception of the character. There was something so specific about his face that they couldn’t forget.” — FRANCES McDORMAND

Audiences know him best as ER‘s uptight chief of surgery. His colleagues know him as a pure pro. A theater veteran and a noted acting teacher, Macy, 48, routinely gives performances that are right on the money, showing how it’s done in a film archive of vivid character turns. No one can pull off funny and despairing in the same shot as sublimely as he.

DON’T MISS: Oleanna (1994), Fargo (1996), Boogie Nights (1997)

NEXT: The 1950s fable Pleasantville (Oct. 16); Gus Van Sant’s Psycho remake (Dec. 4); A Civil Action (Dec. 25); and the indie comedy Happy Texas (1999)