Familiar Face - Unknown Name #16 - Kevin Durand

Call them what you want - character actors, "That Guy(s)," scene stealers - I don't care. This is a regular feature where I spotlight one performer, whether they be longtime veterans like J.K. Simmons or Barry Corbin, or a fresher face just making their way up the stardom ranks. For previous FF-UNs, click here.

Today's Familiar Face-Unknown Name:

Kevin Durand

Where You've Seen Him (high profile): As one of the notorious, disgusting, dangerously insane Tremor brothers in Smokin' Aces. Durand also had a key role in ABC's LOST, and he's co-starred in 3:10 to Yuma, Wild Hogs and, most recently, played Fred Dukes, a.k.a. The Blob, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Where You've Seen Him (not-so-high profile): His film career actually started in a big hit: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, but his was a tiny role as "Bazooka Marksman Joe." Can't say I remember him there. He was also featured as "Tree" Lane in the Russell Crowe hockey flick Mystery, Alaska (not coincidentally, IMDb lists his nickname as Tree; no surprise given his 6'6" height), as a random thug in the coulda-been Road House update Walking Tall (yeah, I know it's a remake, but really, have you seen it?), and in Big Momma's House 2.

Character Specialties: With that kind of stature, it's no surprise that he plays the heavy, literally and figuratively. This does not appear to be changing in the future; I imagine his career path will either take off, sending him into action lead roles, or fall away, leaving him as the token "big guy" or villain. Time will tell if he has the acting chops to escape the box his size has put him in, but prospects thus far are pretty good.

My favorite role: It's has to be as Jeeves Tremor. Sure, the brothers are nothing without each other, and Chris Pine had the far glitzier role, but just Durand's death scene makes that role worthy of this honor. Brutal.

Little Known Facts: Born in Canada, Durand is fluent in French and was named one of Canada's funniest new Comedians in 1994.

On not being cast as Thor in the upcoming Kenneth Branaugh adaptation (from an interview with USA Weekend): "Apparently, they don’t want a 6-foot-6, 250-pound Thor, dude. But Thor is 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds! I don’t know what they’re looking for. I think they’re looking for someone prettier. Which is fine. My ego’s not crushed."

Will be playing Little John in next year's Russell Crowe vehicle Robin Hood, which has a killer cast, including Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, William Hurt, and fellow Wolverine cast member Danny Huston. Also has the starring role in Otis E., where he appears to be playing a prisoner.

On Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Durand
On IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0243806/