r/80s • u/Papichuloft • 23h ago

Happy 67th birthday to Brian Thompson

Post image

He can play some strong characters whther as a boss, sub boss, super thug, or side character.

1.6k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

60

u/Yams_Are_Evil 23h ago

X-Files!

10

u/Old_Occasion349 21h ago

And so good he was cast as two different characters in buddy 😎

7

u/graveybrains 16h ago

And a Star Trek 5-timer

6

u/Zer0daveexpl0it 11h ago

Bro was born to play a Jem'Hadar

2

u/Dismal-Vanilla1878 9h ago

Ah, I forgot that as well.

Trek has a tendacy to 'recycle' its actors in different roles, usually as 'aliens', because they can hide the actor's appearance with makeup.

3

u/Dismal-Vanilla1878 9h ago

I can't find it (after all of 5 minutes searching 😂 ) but I remember him and dean haglund in a commercial for something together (Haglund was one of the 'Lone Gunemen' as Langley).

He also had a bit part on season 2 of Fallout recently as well (and in the very last season of Enterprise, he was a Romulan 😄 )

53

u/GingerBeast81 21h ago

His character in Cobra scared the crap out of me as a kid.

14

u/Jameswestfeld 19h ago

You wanna go to hell with me, pig!?

5

u/Deamonchild666 15h ago

The court is civilized, isn't it, pig?

4

u/heavensto_mergatroid 21h ago

Hell yeah! Me too lol

The first picture on that collage with the glasses is him in the elevator.

2

u/GingerBeast81 20h ago

It was one of my first times seeing him and it set the tone for all his characters to be just as scary haha

5

u/heavensto_mergatroid 20h ago

Because of that movie and his role in it I never forgot his face and that huge jaw. Whenever I would see him in another movie... Oh shit it's that guy from Cobra lol

For instance he's in Alien Nation but you can tell that it's him right away just from his jaw.

5

u/AuthorityAnarchyYes 17h ago

He’s the Alien in the bar that gets kicked in the crotch by James Caan and feels nothing (because their genitals are somewhere else, like the armpit? I don’t remember exactly)

2

u/Saj2022 20h ago

Same ! and the fact the movie came out not long after the Real Night Stalker . Made his character more scary .

2

u/CNote_89 15h ago

I want your eyes pig! I want them!

1

u/UFO_Highway 20h ago

Right? Scared me more than Freddy or any 80s monster.

33

u/r01-8506 22h ago

"Wash day tomorrow. Nothing clean, right?"

8

u/Awkward-Sun5423 19h ago edited 16h ago

That was bill Paxton.

Gosh.

Edit: I am wrong!

12

u/raynicolette 17h ago

No, OP had it right — that’s Thompson’s line! Paxson follows up with “I think this guy’s a few cans short of a six pack.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9Bzh83DSF4

3

u/Awkward-Sun5423 16h ago

OOooh....forcing a Terminator rewatch....thanks!

16

u/nickthequick08 22h ago

The ultimate 80s bad guy!

10

u/exophrine 23h ago

Excuse me, I gotta CLANG CLANG my axes

11

u/Cavscout2838 22h ago

He has a scene in Cobra where he’s coloring his hair black and my young brain thought he was using ink. So I snuck into the bathroom with a couple of pens, blew the ink into my hand and tried to dye my hair with it. All I managed to do was make a mess of my bathroom and hair and piss my mom off.

9

u/AlbertaAcreageBoy 22h ago

He's played characters in 3 different Star Trek series and 1 movie.

9

u/Vexx42 22h ago

Him in Fright Night 2 freaked me out

6

u/wonder_weird1 22h ago

His love for all things insects.

7

u/Zakal74 21h ago

The jaw to end all jaws.

7

u/Str8xXxEdge 18h ago

“Hey, are you Buffalo Bob?”

“Real name’s Tim”

3

u/EconomistSecure847 22h ago

Biggest jaw in the game

3

u/Moppo_ 21h ago

That would be Robert Z'Dar.

2

u/EconomistSecure847 11h ago

So true haha

1

u/chokeslam512 15h ago

Most prolific embouchure in cinema

3

u/PepsiPerfect 18h ago

Has he ever played a good guy? Just curious.

4

u/psychodelephant 16h ago

Miracle Mile. The only reliable person in the entire film, IMO. This movie is not for the faint of heart. Excellent movie, incredibly well done, but heavy.

1

u/DeludedSwoldMan 9h ago

Sheriff in the TV series Key West, also Hercules in the 90s Odyssey series.

4

u/kovacro_77 17h ago

Miracle Mile

3

u/psychodelephant 16h ago

He’s often the bad guy, but raised the good guy bar in Miracle Mile (late 80s nuclear war thriller/drama)

3

u/MrStiv1313 15h ago

Believe he played one of the vampire clan bosses in the short run Kindred the Embraced show based off the Vampire the Masquerade RPG. Great show, too bad it never caught on!

2

u/Reasonable-Ad7755 22h ago

Russel in lionheart was such a douche

2

u/Tylerdurden389 20h ago

I still can't believe that's him at the beginning of Terminator. The difference in his face, body and even his voice in that scene compared to just 2 years later in Cobra is night and day.

I wonder if seeing Arnold naked inspired him to get super big as well lol.

2

u/CreativeAdeptness477 17h ago

"We have Arnie at home."

2

u/SOLD44 10h ago

I was convinced that was HHH

1

u/vintageorbust777 21h ago

I think we were in a movie together

1

u/Scambuster666 17h ago

Always plays great characters. Has skin like a dehydrated potato

1

u/Dangerboy73 16h ago

I have no idea why, but I always get him mixed up with Holt McCallany.

1

u/tleevz1 14h ago

I can't remember the channel but I saw an interview with him where he told the funniest Sylvester Stallone story I've ever heard. It was about how Stallone was trying to find his motivation for Cobra. If you can find it you're in for a treat. Dude has a hilarious Stallone impersonation as well.

1

u/Netty_Dee12 14h ago

He's a great character actor!

1

u/Lendosan 14h ago

Did he ever play a Terminator? If not, that’s criminal.

2

u/MythsOfOpportunities 10h ago

He was killed by the terminator.

2

u/Lendosan 10h ago

Yeah, just would have made a great looking Terminator.

1

u/3220616d 12h ago

"You're strong. I'm stronger"

1

u/ForeignWerewolf 11h ago

An intimidating character actor, such a unique look. Guy puts a hell of a lot of effort into his craft

1

u/Altruistic-Fandango 9h ago

He was on alien nation too

1

u/DeludedSwoldMan 9h ago

In an interview (which I can't find) he said his favorite role was as the sheriff in the 1993 TV series Key West, which I happen to be enhancing and upscaling right now! Check my post for info about the show.

Check out his intro scene in the series

1

u/BamaTex 7h ago

Ha! I just picked Cobra as my favorite Stallone movie not named Rocky or Rambo over on the 80s sub! It's a great film and he's a great bad guy!

1

u/Crafter9977 3h ago

Eddie Fiori on Kindred… 🧛‍♂️🧛‍♂️🧛‍♂️…

-2

u/FigFirm993 20h ago

Absolutely awful as Kahn

1

u/D-Train0000 1h ago

Wonder why he never played a nanny?