Peter Gallagher makes entitlement look comfortable, and we like him best when the complacency shows through the charm. His two films with Steven Soderbergh show how funny that ease can be, and how little it can sometimes give us.
Fi1m perspective
In sex, lies, and videotape (1989), Peter Gallagher plays John Mullany as a man who cannot imagine being caught. John is a lawyer sleeping with his wife’s sister, but Gallagher gives him none of the nervousness that might make him seem less pleased with himself. We laughed at his confidence because he makes the possibility of consequences seem beneath John’s consideration. Against Andie MacDowell’s small starts of alarm as Ann, his ease becomes both comic and revealing. Steven Soderbergh gets something precise from him: a husband whose self-satisfaction is visible without being announced.
Ensemble work gives that assured manner people to rub against. Robert Altman cast him as Larry Levy in The Player (1992), a satire we rate highly despite the occasional distraction of its famous guests, and brought him back for Short Cuts (1993). Alongside those films came the stage revival of Guys and Dolls (1992), with Gallagher as Sky Masterson. The vain professionals were only part of the work, even if they became a familiar casting choice.
The Underneath (1995) shows the limit of that composure. Returning to Soderbergh as Michael Chambers, a gambler coming home after leaving debts and a wife behind, Gallagher keeps his gaze level and his voice steady. We found him handsome, controlled and difficult to care about, because neither appetite nor fear disturbs the calm. Alison Elliott’s Rachel gets more from him in their scenes together, but he supplies too little for a film built around Michael’s evasions. Most critics were kinder to the performance; we do not think the film’s clever construction gives the character the depth Gallagher withholds.
Television offered a different use for his assurance with Sandy Cohen, the principled lawyer and father in The O.C. (2003–2007). The part broadened his audience without requiring another vain professional. Confidence need not imply that somebody is up to something. For the clearest account of what works in his acting, start with sex, lies, and videotape. Watch how little doubt Gallagher allows John.
Biography
Peter Gallagher is an American actor born on 19 August 1955 in New York City. He graduated from Tufts University and studied acting at the William Esper Studio. He made his feature film debut in The Idolmaker (1980) and first achieved prominence for his role as John Mullany in Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape (1989).
Gallagher has appeared in films including The Underneath (1995), American Beauty (1999) and Palm Springs (2020). On stage he has performed on Broadway in productions such as the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls. His television credits include a lead role as Sandy Cohen in The O.C. (2003–2007) and recurring parts in series such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
