The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live - Why Major General Beale Looks So Familiar
The most central characters on "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live" are undoubtedly Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira), two of the most important characters from the original "The Walking Dead." The spinoff continues their story and introduces a largely new cast of characters around them.
Since Rick and Michonne are both well-established power players in the post-apocalyptic setting, "The Ones Who Live" wisely brings in some serious gravitas to counterbalance them. Cue Major General Beale, a central antagonist and a high-ranking officer in the dangerous Civic Republic Military. An influential figure in what is arguably the franchise's strongest faction is a force to be reckoned with, providing a credible threat to Rick and Michonne.
Fortunately, the show has just the man for the job in Terry O'Quinn, whose acting résumé leaves no questions about his ability to portray an ominous figure like Beale. Here are some roles viewers might recognize O'Quinn from.
Terry O'Quinn was the terrifying Jerry Blake in The Stepfather
A veteran of TV shows and movies alike, Terry O'Quinn's first on-screen role was in 1980, and he's worked steadily ever since. In 1987, the actor played one of his most prominent — and easily most frightening — early roles in "The Stepfather," a horror thriller about an identity-changing serial killer who's on a quest to find an impossibly perfect family. O'Quinn's titular villain infiltrates families and entire communities under the guise of a loving stepfather, only to violently turn against his new family when they threaten to uncover his secrets or fail his twisted ideas of perfection.
Critics appreciated "The Stepfather's" combination of horror and thriller elements, and it received two sequels – one with O'Quinn returning in the role — and a 2009 remake starring Dylan Walsh. In an interview with the A.V. Club, O'Quinn said that the movie was a positive experience and the first time he got to play a lead role in a film. However, he also noted that he turned down "Stepfather III" because he didn't want to become a slasher franchise villain. "I shouldn't have done the second one," he said. "I mean, how many times can you kill this guy? I didn't want it to be a 'Halloween' or one of those things."
He played Alex McSween in Young Guns
After "The Stepfather," Terry O'Quinn starred in the 1988 Western, "Young Guns." The film centers on Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez) and other young gunfighters who gather under John Turnstall's (Terence Stamp) wings and become vengeful deputies known as the Regulators after their patron is killed. O'Quinn plays Alex McSween, Turnstall's lawyer friend whose life is upended by the events and his connection to the Regulators. Like many other characters in the movie, O'Quinn's McSween is based on a real-life figure who was prominent in the so-called Lincoln County War that broke out between New Mexico's economic factions after Turnstall's murder.
"Young Guns" isn't the only time O'Quinn has appeared in a prominent Western film that takes inspiration from real events. He also played the mayor in the star-studded 1993 movie "Tombstone," which tells the story of the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
He's a Chris Carter regular who played the enigmatic Peter Watts on Millennium
With Terry O'Quinn's penchant for playing unassuming-looking characters with strange secrets, it's no surprise that he ended up working with "The X-Files" creator Chris Carter. In fact, he's appeared in so many Carter projects that it may be hard to keep track of them all. The most prominent of his roles is Peter Watts on the horror-tinted crime drama, "Millennium." The character is a former FBI higher-up who acts as a liaison between Lance Henriksen's Frank Black and the mysterious Millennium Group, and he's easily one of the most important characters in the series.
As O'Quinn said in the A.V. Club interview, his "Millennium" role started as a short guest star stint, but he soon discovered to his delight that the production had bigger things planned for him. "I remember they called me about being a member of the Millennium group on 'Millennium', maybe just for one or two episodes, and then that blossomed into a three-year gig, which was great," he said. "I mean, I think that was one of the most rewarding things to me."
Apart from "Millennium," O'Quinn has made multiple appearances on Carter's flagship series, "The X-Files." In 1995, he played Brian Tillman in the Season 2 episode, "Aubrey." In 1998, he returned for the movie "The X-Files: Fight the Future" as Darius Michaud, a high-ranking FBI agent who plays an instrumental role in the bombing incident that drives the plot. In 2002, he was back once more for the Season 9 episode, "Trust No 1," playing the fearsome super soldier known only as Shadow Man. If all of that wasn't enough, he also played General Omar Santiago on Carter's short-lived virtual reality drama, "Harsh Realm."
He was the iconic John Locke on Lost
Terry O'Quinn has plenty of recognizable roles, but the Emmy-winning crown jewel of his acting career must be John Locke from "Lost." One of the most mysterious and important passengers of the fateful Oceanic Flight 815, Locke is at the heart of the show's events from the beginning to the very end in one way or another. A strange man with an affinity for knives who seems to be way more in touch with the island than most other characters, Locke balances the line between a serene wise man and a desperate, tragic figure in a way that makes him stand out among the show's massive ensemble cast.
O'Quinn knows his complicated hit character pretty well, to the point that his interpretation of Locke somewhat differs from the company line. "I always said — even though Damon Lindelof, the writer, said Locke was a man of faith and that Jack was a man of science — I always said Locke was a man in search of faith," the actor told IGN. "He's deeply wanting to have something that he can believe in and hold onto. Maybe he was grabbing onto the wrong things."
Terry O'Quinn's many other significant roles
Terry O'Quinn has worked for decades, and has played major roles in so many prominent TV projects that it's been pretty hard to avoid seeing his face over the years. Viewers might have seen him in the recurring role of Thomas Boone on the "NCIS" predecessor, "JAG," or as FBI Assistant Director Kendall on "Alias." He's turned up as General Nicholas Alexander on "The West Wing," Commander Joe White on "Hawaii Five-0," Howard Hargrave on "The Blacklist: Redemption," and Dale Lacy on "Castle Rock," among many others.
And those are just some of his more prominent recurring roles. When it comes to his one-off guest star stints, he's done so many that fans might even find him in the "Star Trek" universe — specifically, on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" as Admiral Erik Pressman.
On the movie side of things, some of O'Quinn's more high-profile roles include Captain Minardi in Robert Cimino's "Heaven's Gate," Sheriff Joe Haller in "Silver Bullet," and Howard Hughes in 1991's superhero movie, "The Rocketeer."