American actor Will Patton is famous for his film roles and TV shows. Irrespective of the character he plays, it’s easy to see an immeasurable amount of dedication to it. As a well-established character actor, Will Patton has co-starred with several top actors and worked with seasoned filmmakers. With a career of over four decades, Patton has starred in several Box Office hits.
However, the big screen isn’t the only place where he has found success. Will Patton also has an impressive television credit, as well as a reputation as a voice actor and audio book narrator. On the Amazon Prime Video’s Outer Range TV series, Will Patton plays the patriarch of the Tillerson family, Wayne Tillerson. Besides Outer Range, here are 6 other Will Patton TV shows where you recognize the actor.
24
Will Patton made his film debut in 1981. He spent the next two decades in recurring or guest roles in several TV shows and movies. For today’s television audiences, one of Patton’s memorable roles on television would be on Fox’s Kiefer Sutherland-led 24 TV series. Will Patton joined the series in season 7 as one of its villains. Cast as Alan Wilson, the character was a private military executive and one of the conspirators behind the Sentox nerve gas conspiracy, which led to the death of several Americans.
Alan Wilson was also one of the co-conspirators for the murder of former US president David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), whom Conrad Haas assassinated. The ex-president was killed to cover up the conspiracy, as well as Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth), who was killed for the same reason. After his capture, following Tony Almeida’s (Carlos Bernard) failed attempts to avenge his wife’s death, Wilson is taken back to the FBI field office. Alan Wilson is almost killed after Special Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) beats him silly, against protocol, to extract information about his co-conspirators.
Falling Skies
After his exit from 24 in 2009, Will Patton guest-starred in a 2010 episode (“Unshockable”) of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Craig Haliday. He landed his next major television role in 2011 on TNT’s science fiction series Falling Skies as Captain Dan Weaver. It is one of several law enforcement roles Patton has played throughout his decades-long career. Falling Skies is set in a post-apocalyptic world after the invasion of an alien species.
The invasion led to the destruction of humanity’s technology and power grid, as well as causing the deaths of 90% of the world’s population. As Captain Dan Weaver, Patton’s character is a retired United States Army officer who becomes the commander of the 2nd Mass. He’s assisted by a second-in-command, former Boston University military history professor Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), as they take the last stand for humanity’s survival. Falling Skies originally aired for 5 seasons from June 19, 2011, to August 30, 2015.
Shots Fired
In the Fox ten-part drama miniseries Shots Fired, Will Patton returns to play another law enforcement character. The miniseries follows a DOJ investigation into police shooting and killing of an unarmed teen in what is being reported as a racial killing. Patton plays Sheriff Daniel Platt, the sheriff of Gate Station. Patton’s character supported Sanaa Lathan’s Ashe Akino and Stephan James’ Preston Terry characters, a DOJ law enforcement officer and prosecutor. The 10-episode miniseries received generally positive reviews from critics.
Swamp Thing
Will Patton focused on appearing in movies before making his return to the small screen in 2019. Patton joined the main cast of the short-lived DC Universe superhero series Swamp Thing as Avery Sunderland. The character is the President and CEO of the Sunderland Corporation and the town’s wealthiest man. Although a philanthropist, Avery Sunderland is looking to harness the power of the swamp. Patton’s character and the entire series were based on DC Comics. Surprisingly, Swamp Thing was canceled after its first season, after airing all 10 episodes.
Yellowstone
Paramount Network’s Yellowstone is Will Patton’s most popular project on television in the last decade. It was also the first time he worked with Kevin Costner on television, having co-starred in two feature films, No Way Out (1987) and The Postman (1997). In Yellowstone, Patton played Garrett Randall, a character introduced as a guest in season 3. Garrett Randall is Jamie Dutton’s biological father. In season 4, he was upgraded to a main character and was ultimately the season’s antagonist. The character was killed off after being shot by his biological son, Jamie.
Silo
Television audiences would also recognize Will Patton from his brief recurring appearance on the Apple TV+ science fiction dystopian drama series Silo. In the series, Patton plays Deputy Samuel “Sam” Marnes. He works in the Silo’s Sheriff Department with Sheriff Holston Becker (David Oyelowo). He shared romantic feelings with Mayor Ruth Jahns (Geraldine James) before her death by poisoning. Deputy Mendes was killed in his Silo apartment in episode 4 (“Truth”) by Judicial enforcer/agent Douglas Trumbull (Henry Garrett). If you recognized Will Patton from any of these TV shows, also check out Outer Range’s Josh Brolin’s top 10 movies.
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