Brian Thompson - Brian Thompson Actor

Brian Earl Thompson (born August 28, 1959) is an American character actor, whose career began with a small role in The Terminator (1984), a blockbuster film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Since then, Thompson has worked primarily in the action adventure and science fiction genres. His first named role was on Werewolf, a horror series that ran during Fox's inaugural broadcasting year of 1987â€"1988. Thompson has played several characters in the Star Trek franchise, the Alien Bounty Hunter on The X-Files, and Eddie Fiori on Kindred: The Embraced. In 2014, he produced, wrote and starred in the B movie parody The Extendables.

Early life

Thompson was born in Ellensburg, Washington, and raised in Longview. He attended Central Washington University, where he studied business management, played football, and appeared in many school productions. He then moved to California and received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine. He initially trained and pursued a career in musical theater, performing at Riverside Civil Light Opera's production of "The King and I", Long Beach Civic Light Opera's "Bittersweet", and several other musicals. In 1982, he was a resident actor at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

Thompson's athletic build and unique facial structure were key in the initial roles he was offered. He has stated that it has occasionally been a double-edged sword when it comes to auditioning for roles, but it has provided him with consistent work. Thompson said, "If you're very physical in stature, you're gonna get hired for action movies. The star's always going to be chasing someone so they need an equal adversary. I'm never going to play a nebbish geek."

Career

Thompson was cast in The Terminator while still in school. He and Bill Paxton had minor roles as punk thugs.

He followed that up with "bad guy" roles on Moonlighting, Otherworld, Street Hawk and Knight Rider before landing the role in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle, Cobra (1986). Although the film was critically panned, it was a commercial success. The New York Times wrote of Thompson's portrayal, "the archvillain, a character that is a cross between a James Bond fantasy villain such as Jaws and a raging psychopath, delivers a scorching monologue â€" a feat of linguistic sophistication that Cobra would have a hard time matching."

He appeared in the film Rage and Honor (1992) as Conrad Drago. In 1993, Thompson landed a role on the large ensemble series Key West which was filmed on location in the Florida Keys. The series lasted for 13 episodes. In a departure from his previous work, he played a "new-age sheriff", which Thompson stated was his favorite role of his career. The character uttered the introductory line, "I'm Sheriff Cody Jeremiah Jefferson. I'm a direct descendant of Wyatt Earp and the Lone Ranger. My personal heroes are Ted Nugent, Buddha and Davy Crockett. I am the last real lawman and the first peace officer of the 21st century."

The following year, Thompson began his tenure on The X-Files and followed that with roles in the science fiction-fantasy series Seven Days, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. Between these, Thompson made dozens of appearances in other series and films, often in similar roles. In 1996, he appeared in Dragonheart as the lead henchman of David Thewlis' villainous king. The fantasy film, starring Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery, was a moderate success.

Thompson then returned to the big screen as lead antagonist Shao Kahn in the film adaptation of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. The film was both a critical and commercial failure, with a 3% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times called it "colossal compendium of logic-defying martial arts, noisy, hyperactive special effects and rudimentary acting." In 2014, Thompson released The Extendables, a film he produced, written and starred in. A parody of movies like The Expendables, Thompson stated that it contained true-to-life instances from his own career. It was released via iTunes.

Star Trek

In 1989, Thompson landed his first Star Trek role on Star Trek: The Next Generation. His size worked against him at first, because the producers were originally looking to cast someone who could fit in a certain costume. He was able to convince them to give him a try: "That was the first of five auditions that I've had for Star Trek and they've hired me every time." Thompson played a Klingon in the episode "A Matter of Honor". In 1993 and 1996, he appeared in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as different characters. In 1994, he appeared in the feature film Star Trek Generations.

In 2005, Thompson was cast as Admiral Valdore in three episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Thompson has since participated, to some extent, in Star Trek fandom, giving narrative DVD extras and appearing at conventions.