Željko Ivanek

Željko Ivanek is a Slovenian-American actor and graduate of Yale who’s usually the best thing in whatever he’s in. He initially started off typecast as a nice guy, most notably Ed Danvers in Homicide Life On the Street. Tired of playing good guys, he asked his agent to get him more villainous roles. The agent was more than obliging.

Imagine the lawyer/prosecutor/accountant you'd most dread seeing across the table from you. Okay, got it? It's this guy, isn't it? I know-freaky, right?

—Cracked

A familiar face on television due to his long-term portrayals of characters such as Governor James Devlin in Oz and Andre Drazen in the first season of Twenty Four, he’s enjoyed a recent profile boost after winning an Emmy for his portrayal of Ray Fiske on the critically acclaimed Damages. He tends to make even the smallest role somehow memorable, and has had recurring stints on Heroes, True Blood and Big Love, not to mention his role as a regular on The Event. Although the show suffered from many problems, Ivanek was a compelling presence.

Roles

Homicide Life On the Street as Ed Danvers
The X Files as Roland Fuller
Oz as Governor James Devlin
Frasier as Dr Arnold Shaw, the pet psychiatrist
Hannibal as Dr Cordell Doemling
Twenty Four as Andre Drazen
Cold Case as John Doe
Damages as Ray Fiske
John Adams as John Dickenson
Heroes as Emile Danko
True Blood as The Magister
Big Love as JJ Percy Walker
The Event as Blake Sterling
Lost as Edmund Burke
In Bruges as A Canadian Guy
Law and Order as Philip Swann
Master Harold and The Boys as Hally (originated the role)

Tropes

Bald of Awesome
Fake American
He Really Can Act: His bigger roles tend to elicit this reaction.
Hey Its That Guy
Mean Character Nice Actor
One Scene Wonder
Playing Against Type: In Template:Heroes. Its very rare to see him playing an action heavy role and he played it extremely well.
Rule of Sean Connery
Smug Snake: One of the smuggest around and all the better for it.