Editorials > The 27%ers Who Need to Be on Your List

What’s a 27%er, you ask? Well, Empire Magazine came up with the term and defines 27%ers as

Those actors whose presence piques your interest in a movie, regardless of title, plot or complete absence of any other redeeming feature, merely because you know they will make it worth watching on some level. In short, they make the movie 27% better by seeing fit to exist in its presence. We're not talking your Will Smiths, Angelina Jolies or Will Ferrells here. Movies are rarely funded on the back of a 27%er. To be a true 27%er you should hover at about fourth on the cast list, unless it's straight to DVD, and be known to most of the world as "Oh, that guy? I love that guy!"

The article goes on to say that any film fan worth his or her salt must create their own list of 27%ers, loving and protecting them as one would their own children. Following Empire’s example, and in the hopes that the term “27%er” will soon make its way into the collective film geek subconscious, we at FilmWad happily present a few actors who absolutely have to be on your list.

Nathan Fillion

As the original article states, Nathan Fillion has perfected the art of looking slightly bored with every situation because he seems to know something nobody else does. Along with Clive Owen, Fillion is probably the closest thing we have to a truly great action star. He channels the best of Harrison Ford and Kurt Russell, and adds his own inimitable sense of comic timing: without Fillion’s brilliant, deadpan line delivery, Slither might have very well been a waste of 100 minutes, and he totally steals Waitress from Keri Russell at damn near every turn. 

If Fillion isn’t on your list, then you either don’t have any nerdy friends or you’re really, really sick of your nerdy friends telling you to sit down and watch Firefly for once. Either way, get your hands on Firefly, Serenity, and Slither and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Peter MacNicol

Peter MacNicol is one of those actors who should have been given his own mainstream vehicle long, long ago: his character on Ally McBeal was by far the most entertaining and interesting, his turn as the foreign lackey of an ancient demon in Ghostbusters 2 remains hilarious even today (“You know, Dana, there are many perks to being the mother of a living god”), and he even managed to legitimize the Worst Season Ever of 24 by turning Lennox  into a truly three-dimensional character rather than the irritating Angry Conservative stereotype he very well could have become. 

The single best-delivered line of the entire last season came from MacNicol: after literally a week of waiting and an hour of realtime, the two people Lennox has been spying on finally stop having sex and get to matters of national security. Exasperated, bored, and irritated, MacNichol mutters, “…Finally, we’re done” in a way that almost, but not quite, made up for the lame crap in the rest of the episode.

If you need any more evidence that Peter MacNicol deserves to be on your list, there’s always this.

Nicky Katt

As the best cast member on Boston Public, Nicky Katt doled out punishment and life lessons on a daily basis without ever seeming hackneyed or sentimental. As a mostly silent villain in Way of the Gun, he elicited a fair amount of sympathy while still kicking a reasonable amount of ass (before getting his ass handed to him by Benicio del Toro, anyway). And most recently – and perhaps most memorably – he was responsible for the biggest laugh in Sin City as a neo-Nazi who can’t quite believe he’s been impaled by an arrow.

As one of the few adult actors I can think of who hasn’t excised the letter Y from the end of his name (don’t call him “Ricky” Schroeder or he’ll tear your balls off), Nicky Katt still manages to retain a considerable amount of badass by jumping between mainstream and independent fare with frequent regularity. Generally, the rule for Katt goes like this: if a film he’s in has a wide release, he’s only going to be in it for about three minutes but he’ll steal the show. If it has a limited release, he’ll spend at least half of his time onscreen but he’ll still steal the show.

Bruce Campbell

If you have to ask for an explanation, you don’t fucking deserve one.

Eddie Izzard

Quite possibly one of the greatest stand-up comedians of our time, Izzard is also a pretty accomplished actor. While he’s yet to land starring roles in too many mainstream films, Izzard has nicely complemented the casts of movies like Ocean’s Thirteen, Shark, and My Super Ex-Girlfriend (which, while awful in most conceivable ways, gave Izzard another chance to play a villain and is therefore worth something). All of this, of course, in addition to his consistently entertaining performance on The Riches.

Considering Izzard has proven he can hold a show together as the male lead on television, hopefully more directors will figure out his worth on the big screen. Bryan Singer certainly has, at the very least – Izzard’s set to co-star in Valkyrie alongside Tom Cruise, and it’s a fair bet that Izzard will be a heck of a lot more fun to watch than his Scientologist counterpart.

Kelly MacDonald

I’d say I’m not entirely sure why I like Kelly MacDonald, but that would be a horrendous lie: she’s absurdly cute, she has a Scottish accent, and she’s a pretty good actress.

Hell, despite only appearing in one or two scenes of Trainspotting, everyone who’s seen the film seems to remember her as one of the main characters. Same thing with Tristram Shandy: only in two scenes, but still gives you the impression that she was one of the leads.

Besides that, how can you not love someone who pronounces the word “sex” as if it were spelled “S-A-I-H-X”?

David Krumholtz

Need a snippy, clever, definitely-going-to-die-first-if-he’s-in-an-action-movie, Jewish character actor? David Krumholtz is your man. He made Slums of Beverly Hills worth watching (parts of it, anyway), his tertiary role in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle almost warranted an entire spinoff movie, and his performance as Mister Universe In Serenity proved that Jews can, in fact, survive in outer space conditions.

Did I mention that he’s hilariously Jewish? Because most of his characters seem to.

Repeatedly. 

Christopher Eccleston

Not many people can make a Northern English accent sound dignified and/or intelligent (as exemplified here), but Christopher Eccleston doesn’t do half bad. Granted, a lot of that has to do with the respect attached to playing The Doctor, but still: Eccleston has managed to create a career out of playing a duplicitous military general, a wise bum, an unlikely murderer, and an amiable alien – all of whom possessing the British equivalent of a Texan accent.

In fact, he’s a reasonably big actor in the UK: the only reason he should be on your list is because he rarely appears in mainstream American fare and when he does, he’s horrendously underused (way to set up Eccleston’s presence for the final episode and not follow through, Heroes). You can see him next in what looks to be a horrendous Chronicles of Narnia ripoff, playing some dude on a horse with a Northern accent.