Some fans may know Christopher Meloni strictly from his 12-year stint as Detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — a role which he'll be reprising in upcoming spin-off series Law & Order: Organized Crime — while others may remember him from more recent work as former NYPD detective Nick Sax on the surreal dark comedy, Happy!. With the ability to play both stone-cold brooders and physically demanding comic relief, Meloni is one of the most unique and versatile actors working today.
His specialty involves a mixture of being both intimidating and unhinged, and his talents are never more properly showcased than when he's playing a villain or a psychopath. He manages to bring dimension and humor to parts that would ordinarily be played straight. Whether Meloni is playing a hero or a disturbed villain, he's always unpredictable.
10 COLONEL NATHAN HARDY (MAN OF STEEL)
A high-ranking member of the United States Air Force, Colonel Nathan Hardy was tasked with gathering intelligence about an impending alien invasion from a visiting extraterrestrial — Superman. For the bulk of Man of Steel, Hardy tried to protect Smallville from General Zod's attack.
A hardened officer and a cynical man, Hardy put national security above all else, and therefore didn't trust Superman until he saved his life. At which point, the Son of Krypton earned the gruff veteran's respect, and they fought alongside one another to close the Phantom Zone.
9 DENNIS (I AM WRATH)
Teaming up with John Travolta for the film I Am Wrath, Christopher Meloni plays Dennis, a former Black Ops agent and friend to Travolta's Stanley Hill. Hill's wife has been brutally murdered, and goes to Dennis for help in tracking down her killers.
Dennis runs intelligence beneath a barbershop, giving Hill all the information he needs to track down his wife's killers, providing backup when his friend's plans fall through. But Dennis supplies more than ammunition and tactical assistance; he also acts as Hill's moral compass.
8 ELLIOT STABLER (LAW AND ORDER: SVU)
A dedicated detective in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Elliot Stabler spends his days hunting down sex criminals with his partner Olivia Benson. He often puts his job before a healthy home life, and is known for getting carried away during interrogations.
Christopher Meloni plays Stabler as a loose cannon with a heart of gold. His former military background, strict Catholic upbringing, and traditional values make him both reserved and irascible, to the point where his behavior is entirely unpredictable. For Stabler, the ends always justify the means when it comes to catching the bad guys.
7 COMMISSIONER GORDON (HARLEY QUINN)
DC Universe's animated series Harley Quinn chronicles Harley Quinn's split from the Joker and rise as one of Gotham City's most notorious queenpins. Full of adult humor and gags, this is an adult cartoon that pushes the boundaries of the Batman canon and presents an extreme take on its characters.
Commissioner Jim Gordon, while being Batman's loyal confidante, is portrayed by Christopher Meloni as an alcoholic wreck, prone to bouts of schizophrenia and mania. He's still a hero, but he also has quite a lot in common with Gotham City's more kooky villains.
6 NICK SAX (HAPPY)
A former homicide detective turned mercenary and hitman, Nick Sax is a disgrace to the New York City Police Department, his ex-wife, and his daughter. When the latter gets kidnapped, Nick is the only chance she has of surviving, even if he has to accept the help of her imaginary friend Happy to find her.
Happy! is unlike any series Christopher Meloni has appeared in, and its surreal plot, dark humor, and ultra-violence won't be for everyone. But for those who appreciate adult themes and Meloni's talent for slapstick humor, it will be the perfect piece of entertainment.
5 BROCK CONNORS (WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD)
Brock Connors is an ordinary man leading an uneventful life in White Bird In A Blizzard, except that's he's married to Eve, an exceptional woman with a wild side. She begins to feel stifled by their marriage and one day disappears, leaving Brock and their daughter Kat behind.
Christopher Meloni plays Brock with understated menace, a father and husband who becomes lost and distant after Eve's disappearance, who doesn't know how to be close to Kat, and tries to prevent her from doing any preliminary investigating. When she comes to realize that he may know exactly where her mother is, Brock becomes a different sort of figure in her life.
4 GEORGE WINSLOW (THE HANDMAID'S TALE)
A commander in the Gilead hierarchy in The Handmaid's Tale, George Winslow serves as a power player at the federal level in Washington D.C., where the series' third season spends some of its time. When fertility rates are dwindling in the post-apocalyptic society, he and his wife boast six children.
In a society where children have become indicative of social status, Winslow uses his brood like a billionaire flaunting his massive art collection. As the final arbiter in matters of Gilead authority, he has a relaxed confidence that his power is assured, more than any other commander on the series, and he wields that nonchalance purposefully.
3 ROMAN ZIMOJIC (TRUE BLOOD)
Known as the leader of the Vampire Authority, Roman Zimojic or "the Guardian" entered HBO's hit series True Blood in its fifth season. He was one of the greatest threats that Sookie Stackhouse and the rest of the protagonists ever faced.
As the leader of the Vampire Authority, Zimojic was the supreme leader of all vampires on Earth, and had grown enormously powerful during his 500 years as a creature of the night. He had a fanatical devotion to the Great Revelation and its subsequent movement, and punished all those who opposed him.
2 GENE (WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER)
Though Wet Hot American Summer is a film full of many comedic talents, it's Christopher Meloni's performance as Gene that steals the thunder away from the likes of Paul Rudd. As the Vietnam-vet-turned-summer-camp-chef, he has several scenes that showcase his instability but also his commitment to the campers having a healthy diet.
For one thing, he takes advice from a can of vegetables that he thinks can talk, and for another, he has an intimate relationship with a refrigerator. Not a lot makes sense about Gene, but the film (and the subsequent television series) would be all the poorer without him.
1 CHRIS KELLER (OZ)
A charming but no less deranged serial killer, Chris Keller is an inmate in the HBO series Oz, and has a complicated and intimate relationship with his cellmate, Tobias Beecher. Chris is incredibly cunning and manipulative, and seeks to bring pain to others as a way of assuaging his own feelings of self-loathing.
Christopher Meloni portrays Keller as both seductive and feral, someone for whom loved ones are stepping stones to be used until they no longer serve a purpose. His ties to the Aryan Brotherhood end up getting his lover brutally beaten.
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