Stark Sands

In Generation Kill (2008), Stark Sands keeps Nathaniel Fick serious while the Marines’ voices compete around him. The quieter exchanges hold our attention because he does not press to make them more important. We found his steadiness reassuring, because it gave us someone to follow amid the banter and confusion. Directors Susanna White and Simon Cellan Jones help by allowing camaraderie, boredom and fear to coexist without announcing every change of mood. Sands works well within that ensemble, where being noticeable is not always the most useful thing an actor can do.

The military casting has precedents: he played 2nd Lieutenant Raleigh in Journey’s End (2007), his Broadway debut. Theatre then gave him leading musical roles to originate, Tunny in American Idiot (2010) and Charlie Price in Kinky Boots (2013). Those parts matter when considering an actor whose screen work has remained largely supporting or ensemble. They suggest that the modest demands of many of his screen appearances should not be taken as the full measure of what he can do.

In the Coens’ Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), he plays Troy Nelson, a folk-singing soldier. The part connects two recurring features of his work: military characters and music. We recommend the melancholy comedy readily, with a caveat about its wandering middle, but our admiration for the film is not a reason to single out every supporting performance. For Sands himself, Generation Kill remains the firmer recommendation: it gives his quiet seriousness a sustained place in an ensemble, and us more time to appreciate it.

The reservation concerns the opportunities as much as the acting. With few leading film roles, Sands has given us less evidence of how he might sustain a film built around him. His stage work makes that prospect worth considering, but cannot settle the question. Start with Generation Kill, provided its dense military language does not put you off; his quieter exchanges reward the effort.