Vital Statistics: Born August 3, 1959, in New York, New York. After graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, worked in theatre for several years before breaking into film in 1986.
Proficiencies: Sarcastic, cynical tough guys who don't take crap from anyone.
Where You've Seen Him: As wisecracking and wise Dr. Cox on NBC's sitcom, Scrubs.
Where He'll Be Next: On the big screen in September in two feature films, Crazy As Hell and Stealing Harvard.
This past year, I only added one new show to my regular viewing TV schedule, and that was the comedy Scrubs. The previews looked cute, and the show got a lot of press here in Canada thanks to the involvement of local actress Sarah Chalke, and I needed something to watch after Buffy anyway, so I gave it a shot. Right away, I was charmed; the four young leads are all adorable and the show has just the right mix of quirky and coming-of-age-Wonder-Years qualities that I like. Plus, the show had John C. McGinley.
I'd seen John plenty of times before, but not often in a role like Dr. Perry Cox, his character on Scrubs. Dr. Cox is, without question, a bit of a bastard, but he's the kind of guy I just love on the small or big screen -- the kind of guy who has a firm code of integrity at his heart, who just covers up his inner goodness with a lot of snark and heavy drinking. Ah, what's not to like about that? As mentor to the show's newbie intern, J.D. Dorian (Zach Braff), Dr. Cox at first came off as gruff, rude, and definitely not someone to look up to. In the show's premiere episode, however, it quickly became clear that the real bad guy at the hospital is fake-nice hospital chief of staff Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins, also doing fabulous work here), and that the real medical hero (or anti-hero?) is our very own Dr. Cox. Dr. Cox is a quick wit, and his clever barbs often leave J.D. completely tongue-tied, as in "Will I speak more slowly or fetch a nurse who knows fluent moron?" I like all the characters on Scrubs, but Dr. Cox is by far my favourite. He doesn't let J.D. get away with any crap, he always knows everything that's going on at the hospital, he knows how to dish up good medicine and good wisecracks without getting too involved. Plus, he's got a cracker of an ex-wife who snaps just as good as he does, he's secretly in love with sassy nurse Carla, and he shows just a hint of weakness as he's unable to deal with his good friend (and ex-brother-in-law's) serious illness in the final episode of the season. John C. McGinley is reason alone to watch the show; he'll definitely make you laugh, he'll sometimes make you misty-eyed, and most of all, he'll make you want to be just like him.
John has shown such a gift for comedy on Scrubs that I was amazed, when I looked him up in the IMDB, to find out that most of his previous movie credits are dramas. In fact, up until now he's been best known for playing a hardass military guy, or a hardass corporate guy. He rarely gets to crack a smile and he hardly ever gets to make people laugh. That's not to say that he hasn't done some great work, but it amazes me that such a fabulous comic talent has gone unappreciated and underused for so long. Just goes to show you what typecasting of a character actor in Hollywood will lead to.
John got his start in the movies, after working in theatre for several years, thanks mostly to Oliver Stone. Oliver saw something special in John and cast in him his landmark 80s war film, Platoon, as the tough Sergeant O'Neill, a guy who doesn't tolerate weakness in his team, or who, at least, feels that accepting no excuses will help impress the higher ups. O'Neill's job is made that much harder when he's caught between the two other sergeants in the platoon -- cruel, macho Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) and kind, thoughtful Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe). O'Neill must choose where his loyalty will lie, and for him, it's all about which one will eventually win the power struggle and be able to do the most for O'Neill's career. Oliver and John made such a good team that John became part of Stone's stable of actors, and in short order went on to appear in supporting roles in Oliver's films Wall Street, as Charlie Sheen's obnoxious suck-up co-worker, Marvin, and Talk Radio, as Stu, loyal and sassy engineer for opinionated talk radio host Barry (Eric Bogosian).
John's roles as rather cold, hard characters for Oliver Stone led to a bit of typecasting, and he regularly found work in the movies as a military figure, taking down the bad guys while never cracking a smile. In a notable such role, John showed up in the classic thriller Seven, as the fabulously-named California, head of the SWAT team who backs up detectives Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Mills (Brad Pitt) as they track a serial killer who kills based on the seven deadly sins. California leads the charge just as Mills and Somerset are about to find the "sloth" killing -- a drug dealer who has been bound in bed for a full year. California is all shaved-head tough guy -- he greets the dealer with, "Morning, Sunshine," and, after announcing the guy is dead, Cali leans right in to whisper, "You got what you deserved." The joke's on California, though, as the skeletal drug dealer suddenly coughs and moves -- he's alive, but barely. It's a creepy scene and one of the most memorable in the film. In another infamous tough-guy part, John appeared as Marine Captain Hendrix in the action/thriller The Rock, the story of a group of ex-Marines who use stolen chemical weapons to hold all of San Francisco hostage from their location on Alcatraz. Hendrix is part of the mercenary team; he's third in command after General Hummel (Ed Harris) and Major Baxter (David Morse). He's the one who brings along the "something special" -- cutting edge motion detectors that are seismic -- that results in the film's most memorable scene, the showdown in the Alcatraz shower room between Hummel's team and the marines sent to infiltrate the complex. Later, Hendrix is sent to flush out the remaining two team members -- former inmate Mason (Sean Connery) and chemical weapons expert Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) -- but sadly, he proves no match for Mason. John's part is a small one, but again shows his skill with a military role, and as an added bonus, he gets to have his legs set on fire. Now that's a good part.
Luckily for us, John's skill with a wiseass wisecrack couldn't remain hidden forever, and by 1999, he finally expanded out of his "enforcer" role into some comedy work. John put the glad-handing side of his character to work in Office Space, an excellent and often overlooked film about the drudgery of office life. While office mates Peter (Ron Livingston), Samir (Ajay Naidu), and the unfortunately-named Michael Bolton (David Herman) struggle to make their work interesting, they're forced to deal with a couple of "efficiency consultants" who have been brought in to evaluate the employees. John plays one of the consultants, the memorable Bob Slydell, who confesses his love of all things Michael Bolton as an effort to bond with the Michael himself (an effort that falls utterly flat, and is quite hilarious). With his tight, phony smile, Bob Slydell is perfect as a guy who wants to pretend to be your friend, only to figure out whether or not you're the one he wants to stab in the back. He's bad news in the form of a nice suit. After a series of very funny interviews with the employees (Peter in particular belligerently refuses to give out any information about his daily workday, causing Bob to suggest that he's management material), Bob and his cohort finally come up with a solution. They've discovered that employee Milton (Stephen Root, another of my favourite character actors) was actually laid off years ago, but no one told him, and due to a glitch in payroll, he never stopped being paid. Now that the consultants have fixed the payroll glitch, they figure the whole situation will sort itself out -- no point actually explaining it to Milton, as that would result in messy and unwelcome "confrontation." Hee! Office Space is full of very funny characters and hilarious scenes, and amid all this craziness, John stands out as one of the most memorable and funniest characters onscreen. He definitely made his mark as a comedic actor, and his newfound versatility led to exciting new roles.
Just before winning his role on Scrubs, John worked with Oliver Stone yet again (their sixth collaboration), in the football film Any Given Sunday. This time out, however, even Oliver noticed John's fantastic comedic talents, and gave him the humorous part of sports analyst Jack Rose. Jack has his own sports show, and he's not shy about criticizing football coach Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) about his outdated coaching methods and his poorly-performing team, the Miami Sharks. Jack's most interested in good ratings, however, and when the Sharks are forced to put their third-string quarterback into play -- and he turns into a sensation -- Jack's quite happy to have the young man on his show for some sucking up. Jack Rose is definitely a guy with an edge, however, and when the new quarterback, Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx), appears on his show, Jack uses the opportunity to bring up politics with Willie; Jack wants to talk about how black men are mistreated in the professional American football league, effectively ambushing poor Willie into a tense conversation when Willie was expecting a plushy celebrity profile. Slick ol' Jack diffuses the situation with a little "black talk" -- "Your smack is so fresh; I mean it’s so on time and truthful. Give me a pound dog." Willie decides to take a pass on sharing the love, however, and it's clear that although Jack makes the audience laugh, he also has a sinister quality, representing the media's sometimes inappropriate role in creating and destroying heroes in the sports world. The character is a perfect blend of John's skills with both drama and comedy, and he really stands out in a flawed but interesting film.
This fall, now that he's well established as a funny guy on Scrubs, you'll be able to check out John in a couple more funny-man roles on the big screen. First, he'll show up in Stealing Harvard, which stars Jason Lee as a man who turns to a life of crime in order to pay for his niece's college education. John will show up as a detective who is hot on the trail of our hero -- and who, most likely, won't have a lot of sympathy to go around once he catches his man. Later in September, John will also show up in Crazy As Hell, the debut directing effort from Eriq LaSalle. It's about a new patient who tries to find his place at a mental hospital -- I can only assume that John will make one heck of a snarky mental patient. Whether it's on the big screen or the small screen, however, I'll definitely be watching for John C. McGinley and my regular dose of heavy sarcasm. Do I have to explain that to you, or should I call in a writer who speaks fluent moron?
Check out John's complete filmography @ the IMDB.
Photos courtesy of:
John C. McGinley.com
The IMDB
Yahoo Movies