Why Detective Kreps From Only Murders In The Building Season 2 Looks So Familiar
If you've been keeping up with the myriad twists and turns in Season 2 of "Only Murders in the Building," it's likely that you've come across a few familiar faces popping up in the show's latest season. The show's critical and audience success (just check out those Rotten Tomatoes scores) appears to have opened up a whole new vein of casting for its second season, with stars like Amy Schumer, Shirley MacLaine, and even Cara Delevingne joining in on the droll whodunit action.
One of those familiar faces is the actor playing Detective Kreps, one of the cops assigned to the latest murder, who immediately makes an impression with his aggressive and insulting interrogation style. Also, as Mabel (Selena Gomez) points out during the battle of wits between the two, he tends to drop F-bombs a lot. He's played by a prolific character actor, and if he has you scrunching up your eyebrows trying to remember where you might have seen him before, you certainly have a lot of suspects to interrogate. Here are a few of the most prominent roles from his career.
Michael Rapaport played struggling actor Dick Ritchie in True Romance
According to IMDb, Michael Rapaport made his screen debut on an episode of the TV series "China Beach" in 1990. But three years after that, he brought his experience as a working actor in Hollywood to a character that might be seen as his big break, especially in retrospect — and that was struggling actor Dick Ritchie in "True Romance," directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino.
The QT connection has made "True Romance" something of a cult classic in the years since the movie released, despite its initial commercial disappointment (Box Office Mojo has its worldwide box office gross at just over $13 million). And once you've seen Rapaport as Ritchie, friend to Clarence (Christian Slater) who gets mixed up in the latter's violent Hollywood misadventures, it can be difficult to sever the association with the character in your mind. It's an indelible performance and once that established the basic Rapaport screen persona in many ways.
Michael Rapaport did a run of Friends episodes as Phoebe's cop boyfriend
Michael Rapaport continued to work regularly in film and television throughout the 1990s, with roles on "ER, "NYPD Blue," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," but most of these were just small single-episode parts or supporting roles. But during the fifth season of the popular sitcom "Friends" (a season that, as originally envisioned, was going to have a huge plot twist that would've changed everything) Rapaport picked up a recurring role as Gary, the boyfriend — and soon enough, ex-boyfriend — of Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow).
The two share a typically goofy on-screen connection, which lasts much longer than one would expect. Surprisingly, they actually go so far as to move in together — but one day into this new arrangement, their relationship ends when Phoebe dumps him for using his service weapon to silence an annoying bird outside their apartment. If you're a "Friends" fan either from its original network run or in its second life in perennial reruns, there's a good chance you remember Rapaport in the role, and perhaps his cop character on "Only Murders in the Building" brought this character specifically to mind.
Michael Rapaport memorably staffed Popcopy on Chappelle's Show
One of the best sketches ever done on "Chappelle's Show" is "Popcopy," the print and copy store that seems to be staffed entirely by people who aggressively and pathologically do not care about their jobs. Michael Rapaport steps in for a cameo appearance in the sketch as one of those employees, with a penchant for stirring up uncomfortable conversations in front of the customers in line. He's also the employee charged with making sure customers know that the computer system is down — which he does quite reliably, whether it actually is or not. Finally, he is seen performing a bathroom maintenance duty that's probably too disgusting to describe here.
In an interview on People TV's "Couch Surfing" (via Entertainment Weekly on YouTube), you can see Rapaport remember how he came to do the sketch for the "Chappelle's Show" pilot. Basically, he was friends with Chappelle and decided to take the job after the two ran into each other in New York. The rest is bad customer service history.
Michael Rapaport played teacher Danny Hanson for two seasons on Boston Public
If you were a viewer of David E. Kelley's Fox high school drama "Boston Public," you might remember Michael Rapaport as controversial teacher Danny Hanson. "Boston Public" is marked by its expansive ensemble cast, but Rapaport manages to stand out in his own unique way. Coming into the series in its second season, he was part of the main cast up until its final fourth season.
In what is probably the most memorable of the Danny Hanson storylines on "Boston Public," the teacher assigns a book called "The N-Word" analyzing the titular slur after its use in the classroom creates a violent incident between the students. The episode, titled "Chapter Thirty-Seven," won a Peabody Award in 2002 "[f]or treating an extremely volatile but crucial topic in a complex and sensitive manner," and Rapaport's acting talent were featured front and center in this unforgettable storyline.
Michael Rapaport tried out a southern accent on Justified
Michael Rapaport has worked prolifically throughout funny TV shows and movies, playing everything from cops to best friends. Every once in a while, though, he gets to step into a darker, more nuanced role. That was the opportunity provided by his guest appearance on the fifth season of the FX crime series "Justified," based on the writings and characters of Elmore Leonard. In the show, Rapaport played Daryl Crowe, Jr., head of the notorious Crowe crime family in Florida. Like many criminals over the course of the show, Daryl eventually sees his life end in a violent and untimely fashion. While Rapaport turned in another typically memorable performance, not every viewer was enthused by his efforts at a Southern accent, with one outlet, Complex, praising Rapaport's acting abilities but also noting how his "all-NYC aesthetic" didn't fit with this particular character.
Still, Daryl makes a good addition to Rapaport's gallery of lowlifes, and regardless of how you feel about the aforementioned accent, he remains one of the more memorable rogues to appear over the course of the series.