When I reviewed Death by Lightning, we had a request for an MCM on Shea Whigham, who I really wasn’t familiar with. But he was such a standout as the villainous congressman in Death, and I like getting an overview of someone’s career, so I’m game! I now realize I’ve enjoyed him in several things without connecting them to who he was, so, good suggestion!
- Norris Overly in Faith of My Fathers (2005)
- Captain Cottingham in The Conspirator (2010)
- Joe Cronin in The Catcher Was a Spy (2018)
- Dr. Woodbury Laurence in Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Pvt. Wilson in Tigerland (2000)
Set during the Vietnam War.
Capt. Oliver Naquin in Submerged (2001)
A TV movie about the first rescue of living crew from a submarine, in 1939.
Elias ‘Eli’ Thompson in Boardwalk Empire (2010-14)
During Prohibition, an Atlantic City politician also works with gangsters. Whigham plays the politician’s younger brother; he’s a sheriff but also a gangster.
Carl Elway in American Hustle (2013)
A crime drama set in the late 1970s, about two con artists forced by the FBI to set up corrupt politicians.
Roger Dooley in Agent Carter (2015-16)
The TV series adaptation of the Marvel comic, about a female secret agent in the 1940s. Dooley is Carter’s supervisor.
Hank Deerborne in To the Stars (2019)
Two teenage girls form a friendship in 1960s Oklahoma.
Dick Stensland in L.A. Confidential (2019)
Nope not the 1990 film, but an unsold pilot about homicide detectives in 1950s Hollywood.
Pete Strickland in Perry Mason (2020-23)
An adaptation of a detective fiction series about a 1930s defense lawyer. Strickland’s is Mason’s “work partner.”
G. Gordon Liddy in Gaslit (2022)
A TV miniseries about the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s. This is one to watch, Whigham as Liddy is OTT but in a way that let’s you know just how nutty the real Liddy was!
Jim Dunlop in Eileen (2023)
A film about two women working in a juvenile detention center in the 1960s. And now I have “Come On Eileen” stuck in my head.
George Reeves in Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2023)
A miniseries about a real-life iconic Black marshal in the West who was active from the 1870s through 1890s.
Jim Bridger in American Primeval (2025)
I actually really enjoyed this TV miniseries about the 1857 Utah War, particularly for showing the dark side of the frontier and “manifest destiny,” even if they made the Mormons a bit TOO mustache-twirly evil. Bridger is the unexpected heart of the community who runs the key trading post in the area.
Roscoe Conkling in Death by Lightning (2025)
Whigham plays the real-life evil politician who led the opposition to President James Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881.
Which roles has Shea Whigham stood out in for you?
He’s rather like an American version or Robert Carlyle.
OMG! I totally see it.
You know it occurs to me that DEATH BY LIGHTNING and THE GILDED AGE are set at almost exactly the same time of the century – it might be fun to see Mr Whigam give an encore of his performance as ‘Boss’ Conklin in the latter (because you can bet cash money that the Robber Barons of the era would be getting their ears bent by politicians looking to get ahead by hook, by crook and just occasionally by the actual electoral process).
Also, THAT IS that Braw Scots actor Mr Tony Curran in the LA CONFIDENTIAL behind the scenes shot! (The man gets everywhere except the Oscars, bless him).
Those early scenes in Bass Reeves actually were set in the Civil War, with Reeves taken into battle by his officer owner.
Aha! Hence the uniforms.
I was the one who asked for the MCM on Whigham, so thank you! He’s a favorite character actor of mine whenever I spot him turning up in things – he plays the baddie so well but he also fits nicely as the ‘gruff with a heart of gold’ type of characters too.