Colm Feore makes authority convincing without making it dull. We value the physical and vocal energy he brings to supporting parts, but his Canadian leading roles deserve attention beyond the familiar Hollywood credits.
Fi1m perspective
Colm Feore is often the man with the formal title: Dr. Malcolm Walsh in Face/Off (1997), Chief James E. Davis in Changeling (2008), King Laufey in Thor (2011). His sharp features make him an obvious choice for authority figures. His physical and vocal energy keeps those parts from becoming merely decorative. We value that dependability, while wishing the Hollywood roles gave him more opportunities to lead.
His screen breakthrough, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), offers another starting point. The lead as Gould established his reputation for nuanced biographical acting. From the mid-1990s, he took Hollywood supporting parts while continuing to work on Canadian stages and screens. The later lead as Detective Martin Ward in Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) belongs to that continuing Canadian career, which deserves attention beyond the more familiar titles.
John Woo’s Face/Off is a useful example of what the Hollywood work asks of him. The film belongs to John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, whose pleasure in playing each other makes the absurd identity swap worth accepting. Casting Feore as its doctor makes sense: he is well suited to lending authority to a story that has little interest in being plausible. The gunfire goes on too long, but we recommend it for the acting, with his contribution kept in proportion.
Michael Mann’s The Insider (1999), with Feore as Richard Scruggs, is the stronger film. We were gripped because Russell Crowe makes the personal risks of speaking out against the tobacco industry feel real. Feore provides reliable support in a film that occasionally labours points it has already made. Neither of these Hollywood roles is the place to judge what he can sustain as a lead. For that, start with Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.
Biography
Colm Feore is a Canadian actor. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 22 August 1958, he trained at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal after attending Ridley College in Ontario. He spent many seasons as a classical actor with the Stratford Festival, appearing in leading roles in numerous Shakespeare productions and other works.
Feore is known for his performances as Glenn Gould in Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries Trudeau (2002), for which he won a Gemini Award, and Detective Martin Ward in Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) and its 2017 sequel. His film credits include Dr. Malcolm Walsh in Face/Off (1997), Lord Marshal in The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), and roles in Thor (2011) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). On television he has played Sir Reginald Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy and General Ted Brockhart in House of Cards. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
