Zeljko Ivanek
Imagine the lawyer/prosecutor/accountant you'd most dread seeing across the table from you. Okay, got it? It's this guy, isn't it? I know-freaky, right?—Cracked
Željko Ivanek is a Slovenian-American actor and graduate of Yale who’s usually the best thing in whatever he’s in. He initially started off typecast as a nice guy, most notably Ed Danvers in Homicide: Life on the Street. Tired of playing good guys, he asked his agent to get him more villainous roles. The agent was more than obliging.
A familiar face on television due to his long-term portrayals of characters such as Governor James Devlin in Oz and Andre Drazen in the first season of 24, he’s enjoyed a recent profile boost after winning an Emmy for his portrayal of Ray Fiske on the critically acclaimed Damages. He tends to make even the smallest role somehow memorable, and has had recurring stints on Heroes, True Blood and Big Love, not to mention his role as a regular on The Event. Although the show suffered from many problems, Ivanek was a compelling presence.
Roles
- Homicide: Life on the Street as Ed Danvers
- The X-Files as Roland Fuller
- Oz as Governor James Devlin
- Frasier as Dr Arnold Shaw, the pet psychiatrist
- Hannibal as Dr Cordell Doemling
- 24 as Andre Drazen
- Cold Case as John Doe
- Damages as Ray Fiske
- John Adams as John Dickenson
- Heroes as Emile Danko
- True Blood as The Magister
- Big Love as JJ Percy Walker
- The Event as Blake Sterling
- Lost as Edmund Burke
- In Bruges as A Canadian Guy
- Law and Order as Philip Swann
- "Master Harold"... and the boys as Hally (originated the role)
Tropes
- Bald of Awesome
- Fake American
- He Really Can Act: His bigger roles tend to elicit this reaction.
- Hey, It's That Guy!
- Mean Character, Nice Actor
- One-Scene Wonder
- Playing Against Type: In Heroes. Its very rare to see him playing an action heavy role and he played it extremely well.
- Rule of Sean Connery
- Smug Snake: One of the smuggest around and all the better for it.