David Cross

Tobias Fünke can make an innocent sentence sound compromising without noticing what he has said. In Arrested Development (2003), David Cross lets the character's confidence survive the evidence against it, which makes the innuendo funny. We laughed at Tobias's verbal mishaps because Cross plays a man who cannot hear himself, rather than someone waiting for approval of a clever line. His willingness to look foolish matters as much as his timing. He never asks us to excuse Tobias's awkwardness.

Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995), which Cross co-created with Bob Odenkirk, gave that appetite for absurdity a sketch format. His confrontational stand-up can become self-satisfied, with contempt doing work that a better joke might have done. The move to Mitch Hurwitz's Arrested Development put him in an ensemble and gave his deluded character time to become familiar.

In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Cross plays Rob, a supporting role in Michel Gondry's romance with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet at its centre. We recommend the film for its painful understanding that attraction does not make people easier company, though its visual tricks sometimes crowd out the actors. The later voice role of Crane in Kung Fu Panda (2008) belongs to a continuing career in supporting parts and animation.

The reservation about Tobias comes from the writing around him. Across five seasons of Arrested Development, the later stretches lean too heavily on familiar behaviour, and some jokes take more arranging than their laughs justify. Cross's commitment to the character remains a strength, but it cannot make repetition surprising indefinitely. We want scripts that give him something new to misunderstand, rather than merely another opportunity to repeat what worked before. Start with Tobias, and be prepared for the later storytelling to test your patience.