MITCH PILEGGI
THEN: If today’s Where in the Horror are they Now subject had only done one specific role, he’d still be a legend in genre. Sure you could call Mitch Pileggi a character actor, but man has he played some incredible characters. And frankly, I may just have to wait to talk about his amazing work on the popular series The X-Files just to fit everything in – even though I won’t be able to fit everything in. The actor is equally as powerful when he is playing a strict, no-nonsense leader, as when he is playing a raving psychopath. The dude is an incredible talent, and he is far more than the role that made him a modern day icon. So let’s take a walk down memory lane and see some of the many reasons Mr. Pileggi is one of the coolest genre guys around.
In 1992, a little movie about a killer dog called MONGREL arrived. To be honest, I’m not at all familiar with this one. Frankly I’m surprised I haven’t taken this bad boy out for a walk. First and foremost I love killer animal flicks, and this one sounds like it could be bad, cheesy fun. After his debut film, you could find Mitch at work on a few television shows including The A-Team (1985) and Downtown (1987). He worked on a number of TV-movies, one that was sort of genre specific called Three on a Match in 1987. And while it is far from horror, you could also find Pileggi among the cast of the cult classic THREE O’CLOCK HIGH in 1987. That same year he had a small part in the Charles Bronson action flick DEATH WISH 4: THE COUNTDOWN. I gotta revisit the DEATH WISH movies.
The rest of the Eighties offered even more proof that Pileggi was a fantastic fit for all things genre. In 1988, the actor appeared in yet another action flick called BROTHERS IN ARMS. Yet even more fitting, you could find Mitch as ‘Sarge’ in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD II. Now if 1988 didn’t fully prepare him for doing something scary, we can all thank the great Wes Craven for giving Mitch Pileggi the role of ‘Horace Pinker.’ SHOCKER is an underrated little gem. While certainly not Craven’s best work, it is still a solid flick with a strong group of actors including Pileggi, as well as Peter Berg, Ted Raimi and Heather Langenkamp. If you’ve never watched SHOCKER, give it a try, especially if you are a Craven or Pileggi fan.
After his big screen villain shocked audiences, Mitch returned regularly to the small screen. He appeared in episodes of Alien Nation (1989), Falcon Crest (1987-1989), China Beach (1989), Hunter (1990), and he even had a short run on the series Dallas with four episodes. The following year, he joined the cast of a TV-movie called Night Visions featuring James Remar and Jon Tenney. And the other notable name attached… yes, this was also written and directed by Wes Craven. He followed that up with a whole lot more TV. Did any of you remember Knight Rider 2000? The TV-movie based on the popular series with David Hasselhoff? Well, I don’t really either, but he was in that.
Since this weeks subject has such an incredible resume according to IMDb, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this awesome actor. And by the way, did you realize he had a small role in the white hot hit BASIC INSTINCT? I may have to watch again, but I’m pretty sure he was involved in the famous interrogation scene. After that you could find him working on more small screen movies like Pointsman (1994), as well as the short lived series of the same name. He was also featured in a couple of movies including DANGEROUS TOUCH and IT’S PAT: THE MOVIE, both in 1994. Did you think the Craven connections ended? Well they did not, the actor also had an uncredited role in VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN (1986).
Okay, let’s get to it finally. Speaking honestly, I loved The X-Files for most of its run. However, I personally felt disengaged after about season 5 or 6. Still, Pileggi was fantastic as Assistant Director Walter Skinner. He also joined in for the feature films based on the series, this includes THE X-FILES in 1988 and I WANT TO BELIEVE in 2008. And then of course, he returned to the most recent season on the revamped X-Files. Between that he was featured in everything from the critically acclaimed TV-movie Recount (2008) to FLASH OF GENIUS (2008) as well as a featured role in the series Stargate: Atlantis. There was so much more, four episodes of the Patricia Arquette series Medium, eight episodes of Supernatural, nine of Grey’s Anatomy. The dude was even on Sons of Anarchy for a run. And remember Dallas? Well he returned for the reboot of that too. This dude is always busy.
NOW: The past couple of years have been very productive for Mr. Pileggi. Aside from The X-Files reboot, he also appeared in the feature THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPH in 2015. And he stopped by for one episode of Kings of Con. What does the actor have coming up? Well, it appears that this should be a solid year for Mitch. In August, he has the horror feature POLAROID, which looks to attempt to become the next THE RING or FINAL DESTINATION. With all the huge summer blockbusters out there, only one features Mitch Pileggi. That’s right, you can expect to find Mitch starring opposite Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT.
Again, had Pileggi just been Skinner, he would still be wildly popular. That said, his impressive career has spanned all genres, yet it appears that he has a love for taking on sci-fi and horror projects. This is certainly good for us! Thankfully, fans are still on board for another season of The X-Files, so we can hopefully look forward to that – to be fair, I didn’t watch the new season so if something bad happend to his character please don’t spoil it. If you are a fan of Mitch Pileggi, you have a ton of stuff to look forward to. And if you’d like to see what this fine gentleman is up to, you can follow him on Twitter. And finally, thank you Mitch for being so goddamn good at what you do. What’s not to love about Mitch Pileggi?!? Cue X-Files theme…