Why Lon O'Neil From Barry Looks So Familiar
Season 4 of "Barry" hasn't let up one iota when it comes to lampooning everything about Los Angeles and the entertainment industry that helps to form the beating heart of the city. From hacky acting coaches to overzealous starlets and everything in between, making fun of some of the most idiosyncratic details behind Hollywood comes second nature to the HBO comedy series.
However, with its latest season, "Barry" is also bringing the press into the mix. While the series has never shied away from this aspect, with a reporter hilariously asking Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg) who she thinks should be the next Spider-Man while she's promoting a series about domestic abuse, Season 4 is leaning in even harder with Vanity Fair writer Lon O'Neil.
Of course, there is no Lon O'Neil who writes for Vanity Fair in real life. All the same, you probably recognize the actor who is playing the reporter trying to get the scoop on Gene Cousineau's (Henry Winkler) true crime story. In fact, he's especially recognizable from one of his most iconic roles when you see him walking around the brightly lit streets of Los Angeles.
Patrick Fischler was part of a terrifying scene in Mulholland Drive
While Patrick Fischler has been acting since 1990, one of the early roles that viewers might recognize the actor from is his horrific nightmare-fuel sequence in David Lynch's classic surrealist mystery drama "Mulholland Drive." In the film, Fischler plays Dan, who is one of the first indicators that something is not right with the world in Lynch's unsettling film.
Sitting in a diner, Dan tells his friend about a terrifying dream he had the night before where he went behind the restaurant they're currently sitting in and saw a grim and dirty man with horrific features. Only when his friend coaxes him to go to the sight from his dream and confront his fears, he finds that the man from his dream is indeed behind Winkies, just waiting for him to arrive.
The scene is a devastatingly frightening one in "Mulholland Drive," and perhaps the earliest hint that the film will be exploring the darkness hidden underneath the otherwise bright vistas of LA. It's also one of the best examples of Lynch's ability to take everyday events and infuse them with a palpable sense of dread and malice. Of course, the brilliant way that Fischler plays his part is a huge part of what makes the scene so effective.
Fischler plays Phil in Lost's Dharma Initiative
Still, the actor had a more long-lasting role when he appeared in Season 5 of "Lost" as Phil. A member of the mysterious DHARMA initiative, Phil exists in the past timeline that many of the survivors end up in leading up to The Incident and becomes something of an antagonist to Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell).
The character is mined for suspense regularly in his "Lost" appearances, as he works in the Dharma Initiative's security sector and seems to constantly suspect that the castaways who have made their way into the past timeline aren't who they say they are ... which, of course, they aren't.
Unfortunately for Phil, he gets a little bit too close to the truth when he witnesses The Incident: An event in which the electro-magnetic anomalies that make the island so fascinating wreak deadly havoc on the Dharma Initiative. While Phil does learn that his suspicions are correct before he is impaled by a pole, he doesn't have much time to enjoy himself before he, too, is killed off in "Lost."
Fischler played Isaac Heller on Once Upon a Time
As if Patrick Fischler didn't have enough credits in popular genre TV shows, the performer also appeared in 8 episodes of the ABC fantasy series, "Once Upon a Time." Fischler played Isaac Heller in the back half of Season 4 and also appeared in Season 6 as the recurring character who has the ability to rewrite reality at will using a magical quill.
A disturbed writer with a superiority complex, Isaac attempts to kill off nearly all of the main characters in Season 4 of "Once Upon a Time," an act that sees him imprisoned for the next two seasons. However, Isaac is able to bargain his way to freedom when the central characters need his ability to right some wrongs in Season 6 of the ABC series.
Despite being a scoundrel, though, Isaac has some likable charm to his character, which makes him a villain fans love to hate. Notably, one of the first things that Isaac does once he's released from the mental institution he is being held in is head off to see a performance of Lin Manuel Miranda's beloved Broadway smash, "Hamilton." Naturally, being a man who loves to rewrite stories in inventive new ways, he loves it.
Patrick Fischler reunited with Lynch for the Twin Peaks revival
Bringing things full circle, Fischler returned to work with David Lynch in 2017 on "Twin Peaks: The Return." In the critically acclaimed sequel series to Lynch's '90s pop cultural milestone, the actor played Duncan Todd in six episodes of the Showtime series. Though there were plenty of new characters to parse out in Lynch's revival, fans will no doubt recall the character from his bizarre introduction, a scene that sees him react ominously to the eerie appearance of a red square on his computer screen.
A business associate of Dougie (Kyle MacLachlan) and a spineless lackey for the evil Cooper (also Kyle MacLachlan), Duncan repeatedly attempts to have Dougie killed at the behest of Cooper. Unfortunately for him, like in "Mulholland Drive," the would-be hitmen that Duncan hires fail repeatedly, often with darkly comedic results. Eventually, his failings see him murdered by career criminal and contract killer Chantal Hutchens (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in "Twin Peaks: The Return." Still, the character only met his end in the second to last episode of the revival series, meaning he almost made it through to the end.