Why John Dutton Sr. From 1923 Looks So Familiar
Paramount's "Yellowstone" franchise continues to evolve and expand with every passing year. The core series remains a significant hit for the studio, and "Yellowstone" has branched out into several spinoffs and offshoots that continue to explore the timeline of the Dutton family. The first of these was "1883," and the latest is "1923," which explores the trials and hardships of the Duttons in Montana through the early years of the 20th century. As a star-studded affair, the series' core ensemble includes many well-known Hollywood heavy hitters, including Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, among many others.
Viewers of "1923" may quickly recognize many faces in the series. In particular, one who likely will stand out is John Dutton Sr. That is because the father of Kevin Costner's "Yellowstone" protagonist is portrayed by none other than James Badge Dale. With a robust IMDb list of credits, the actor has worked in Hollywood consistently since the early 2000s – working with some of the film industry's most prominent names. With that in mind, the following are some of the most notable roles from his career that audiences may recognize.
He portrayed Chase Edmunds on 24
One of the earliest performances audiences may recognize James Badge Dale from is his role as Chase Edmunds in Season 3 of "24." Chase was the partner of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) during his time in Los Angeles and briefly dated Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) as well. However, the events of "24" do not go entirely smoothly for Chase, with Jack forced to brutally amputate his partner's arm to secure a virus that had become strapped to Chase's wrist. Later in the series, during the events of Season 8, Chase is killed by a group of bikers. While his character was killed off of the show, Dale did return to lend his voice to "24: The Game," a videogame that was released in 2006.
Chase was one of Dale's earliest significant roles in Hollywood, and the actor seems acutely aware of how green he was when he took on the part.
He was one of several moles in The Departed
James Badge Dale has appeared in the work of numerous prestigious filmmakers over the years. One of the most well-known of the bunch is his performance as Barrigan in Martin Scorsese's 2006 Oscar-winner, "The Departed." As Barrigan, Dale takes part in one of the film's most iconic and infamous twists: the death of Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the reveal of multiple moles within the Boston Police Department. He is then murdered by Collin Sullivan (Matt Damon) in Sullivan's (ultimately ill-fated) attempt to cover his tracks and remove any evidence that he was the mole for Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) within the police department.
Of course, the notion of working on a film with a master of cinema like Scorsese is not lost on Dale. The actor opened up about his experience working with some of the most prominent directors in Hollywood (via The Playlist). He confirmed that he always tries to reflect on the experience and remind himself of the importance of the work. Dale explained, "You work on a Martin Scorsese movie, you work on a Verbinski movie, or with Steve McQueen, and that ain't a 9 to 5 job, man. You have this one moment in your life when you have to opportunity to make something that 20, 30, 40 years from now you can look back and say: 'I helped make that.'"
He played an American soldier in The Pacific
In 2010, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks followed up their wildly successful 2001 miniseries "Band of Brothers" with "The Pacific." Shifting focus away from the European Theater to the Pacific Theater, the HBO miniseries followed the real-life stories of American service members who went overseas to fight the Japanese during World War II. One of these soldiers was Robert Leckie, portrayed in the series by James Badge Dale.
One particularly challenging component of Dale's role in "The Pacific" is that Robert Leckie was a real man. Moreover, he wrote a wildly successful memoir documenting his time overseas during World War II. Dale opened up (via Den of Geek) about this "tightrope" and admitted that part of his work on "The Pacific" involved injecting a bit of himself into the factual components of the story. Dale explained, "Somebody came up with and wrote it, and we take it and make it our own, so it becomes a tightrope act. We want to be respectful to these men, to their memories, and their families, and then we have the people who have adapted it. So, now you have to respect the script and what's left for yourself. You know what I mean?!"
He fought Tony Stark in Iron Man 3
In 2013, James Badge Dale entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe for his lone MCU performance. Specifically, he appeared in Shane Black's "Iron Man 3" as Eric Savin – a henchman to The Mandarin (Guy Pearce) powered by the Extremis virus. A major villain in the film, he is killed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) during the Air Force One Battle. However, despite Marvel's popularity, Dale admitted he was not a Marvel fan before "Iron Man 3."
In fact, during the press tour for "Iron Man 3" (via Collider), he explained that he had little knowledge of Marvel, and as such, he had to rely on his Marvel superfan cousin to help explain the world to him. Dale said, "My cousin is a huge comic book fan, and she became my technical advisor. I didn't read comic books. I didn't know much about the Marvel universe. So, she helped me out and explained the Marvel universe to me. Every time I had a question, I'd call her, and she would talk to me for about two hours and explain the characters and all these different things."
Of course, the actor rewarded his cousin for her hard work as his "technical advisor." Dale noted that he took her to the "Iron Man 3" premiere, saying, "I brought her to the premiere just to see the look on her face, and that made everything worthwhile."
He portrayed one of the Americans killed in Benghazi
In 2016, Michael Bay pivoted back to his niche of grounded and gritty military action roots for the film "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," chronicling the attack on an American diplomatic facility in Libya in 2012. In the movie, James Badge Dale stars as the real-life soldier Tyrone Woods, a former Navy SEAL who was killed during the attack on the compound. In addition to Dale, the film's cast includes several other action stars, including John Krasinski, "Halo" actor Pablo Schreiber, and "Saving Private Ryan" actor Max Martini.
Like his work with Robert Leckie in "The Pacific," there was some "pressure" involved in bringing the role of Woods to life on the big screen for "13 Hours." While the film was met with criticism, including a 51% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, his performance was lovingly remembered by audiences.
He starred in The Empty Man
In 2020, movie audiences saw James Badge Dale take on a lead role in "The Empty Man." The psychological thriller sees him as an ex-cop on the trail of a teenage girl who has gone missing in a midwestern town. As he digs deeper and deeper into the mystery, he slowly but surely finds himself caught in the web of a cult-like group on a mission to bring forth a supernatural being. The film debuted to solid reviews but ultimately failed to generate buzz at the box office, earning less than $5 million during its theatrical run (via Box Office Mojo).
One exciting component of Dale's role in "The Empty Man" is the fact that he was the director's first choice for the movie, but he had to fight the studio to keep Dale for the role. With Dale arguably more well-known as a character actor than a leading man, David Prior had to push for the casting, arguing that Dale was the most exciting choice. Opening up about this in an interview (via Film School Rejects) following the film's debut, Prior explained how he developed "The Empty Man" with Dale in mind, saying, "A lot of the show hinges on just how interesting he was to watch doing nothing. I was waving the James Badge Dale flag from the very beginning."