There have been plenty of times when people have been watching a movie or a TV show and see an actor whose name they don’t remember even if they do recall where they saw the individual before. Out of the many, Tony Plana is one that people have likely seen a few different times and looked right past since he’s either an unassuming protagonist or a rather despicable antagonist. He’s been able to take on a number of roles over the course of his career, be it live-action or a voice role, and he’s rocked every one of them. There have been a few times when he’s gone a bit over the top, but any time this happens it tends to feel that such an act was required since the movie or show he was in at the time called for such an act. Tony is one of the many actors that can go from being calm, quiet, and subdued to being over the top and out of control when he needs to be, which is a bonus since there are some folks that don’t have a lot of different levels and swing towards one mark or the other without a lot of chance to see what lies between those acts. If that makes sense then it’s likely that those reading have seen enough actors operate on the premise that the acting spectrum features quite a few different levels that those that who are dedicated to the craft know how to access.
One role, in particular, that was kind of interesting was that of Emiliano Della Serra from An Officer and a Gentleman, who was more or less a supporting character, but by dint of being called out by the drill instructor, played by Louis Gossett Jr., became someone that people could at least take note of since he was a supporting character that had some presence within the movie. Emiliano didn’t have a lot of lines, but he was one of those that a lot of people might recognize since he was among the group of recruits that were singled out for one reason or another. Obviously, Richard Gere and David Keith were the main stars of the movie, as well as Louis Gossett Jr., but the supporting cast, which featured several familiar faces, included Plana, who was easily allowed to be one of the more noticeable individuals in the group. Since then his schedule has been fairly busy since his filmography is rather extensive when it comes to his movie and TV show appearances. The fact that few people know his name from memory isn’t much of an impediment since he’s continued to create a successful career that’s taken him from one project to another, making it very clear that he’s one of the many that doesn’t give up and go away when people can’t remember his name.
It is a bit disconcerting no doubt for any actor when people don’t know their name and have to refer to them as ‘that person from that movie’, but this is pretty common, and only those that worry too much about their image and their name being pronounced correctly tend to fret too much about people not recognizing them by name. Of course, the idea that saying ‘hey you’ to the average person is less appealing than being recognized by name is very real, but the fact that actors such as Tony have managed to succeed for so long tends to mean that people not knowing his name is kind of a trifling matter since it doesn’t really affect his career that much. If a director or producer forgets his name, that’s a problem, but if the random person on the street recognizes him but can’t place him by name, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s enough to be recognized and realize that people have been watching your movies and TV appearances one would think, and the fuss that could be made about one’s name not being remembered doesn’t sound as though it would be worth it since the effort wouldn’t really be justified considering that actor in question is established and probably shouldn’t require every single person that remembers them to know their name. There are plenty of people that can recognize actors from movies and TV and still to this day don’t know them by name, as it’s a common happening among those that enjoy the entertainment but don’t tend to look any further into what they’re watching, and don’t really bother to read credits.
Tony’s career has been moving steadily forward since he entered the business, that’s about all that really needs to be said considering that he’s proven himself to be a talented individual since his younger days. People forgetting his name is one of the last things he’s probably worried about.
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