A while back I was watching the pilot episode of the now cancelled TV show ‘Touch’, and as Titus Welliver’s character appeared, I realized this is an actor I really appreciate, although I hadn’t really thought about it much. Here’s a man who’s appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, but never really been the star of the movie (please correct me if I’m wrong). Soon this is about to change, though. Titus Welliver is set to play the lead role in Amazons’s TV show ‘Bosch’, a series based on Michael Connelly’s brilliant book series on the LA homicide detective Harry Bosch.
The pilot was one of several created by Amazon, and was eventually picked up for a full season. I for once, cannot wait. The full season will most likely be made available for the US market all at once in February of 2015, which should give you plenty of time to check out a couple of the books before the LA homicide detective hits the TV screens. Having read 6 of them myself (on the 7th in the series now), I can highly recommend them if you are a fan of crime novels… or just good books.
Although never having had a huge lead role, I’ve always been amazed by his intensity, and often find myself loving the characters he plays. Just a few days later, I was watching an old episode of ‘X-Files’ (well, they’re all old by now, but a really, really old one) and there he was again. So here’s a list of a few movies/TV shows he’s appeared in that I’d recommend taking a look at. I emphasize that this post is about underrated actors, so my recommandations are solely based on the actors parts in the movies/TV shows:
as Randall Meade in ‘Touch’
Appeared in three of the episodes, and was one of the highlights of the show for me. The show was cancelled after two seasons, and Titus appeared in episodes 1, 4 and 12 of season 1.
as Jimmy O’Phelan in “Sons of Anarchy”
As one of the Irish bad guys in the FX hit show ‘Sons of Anarchy’, which just recently embarked on its final season, Titus has probably pissed off a lot of people… Still, he does his part brilliantly.
as Officer Jake Lowery in “Brooklyn South”
The first show I can remember him from. This cop-drama from – you guessed it, Brooklyn – was cancelled after just one season. Still one of my fave cop shows, though.
as Doug Spinney in ‘The X-Files: Darkness Falls (Episode 1.19)’
Poor special effects aside, a very good episode of ‘X-Files’. One of those episodes I still remembered bits and pieces from still many, many years after watching it for the first time.
Besides these few examples, he’s also taken part in a lot of quality stuff, such as ‘Gone Baby Gone’, ‘The Town’, ‘Deadwood’, and both in an episode of ‘Third Watch’ and two episodes of ‘Life’… He also played the character of “Redneck in Bar” in the 1990 movie ‘Navy Seals’… right.
As a little bonus, here’s a clip where Titus is having some fun with Kevin Pollak, cause Welliver is most likely one of the best Al Pacino impersonators out there… Well, I told you he’s a good actor!
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