Lance Henriksen and Peter Weller: EnWorld Decides

[Deset Gled]

The poor man's Peter Weller is Brian Thompson.

Brian Thompson - IMDb

Brian Thompson, Actor: Cobra. Brian Earl Thompson was born on August 28, 1959 in Ellensburg, Washington. Raised on the Columbia River in Longview, he learned the value of academics and athletics, as the son of two teachers and the second of six siblings. His interest in acting was first sparked...

www.imdb.com

The poor man's Lance Henriksen is Jeff Kober.

Jeff Kober - IMDb

Jeff Kober, Actor: Sully. Jeff Kober was born in Billings, Montana on December 18, 1953. Not satisfied with being a rancher, Kober relocated to the L.A. area in his twenties with the desire to become an actor. His first appearance on the small screen was a non-billed role in the 1980s series V...

www.imdb.com

For serious.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I have been involved in a long-running conversation/debate/discussion, which, boiled down, has roughly two sides:

1. Lance Henriksen is the poor man's Peter Weller.
2. Peter Weller is the poor man's Lance Henriksen.

If you aren't familiar with this phrasing, allow me to assist- when someone thinks of, say, an actor, and you think, "Well, that actor is just like ... but not quite the same ... as another actor." So examples of that would be-
Skeet Ulrich is the poor man's Johnny Depp (90s special!).
Gary Busey is the poor man's Nick Nolte.
Christopher Eccleston is the poor man's Ralph Fiennes.
Andy Garcia is the poor man's Al Pacino.
Jesse Plemons is the poor man's Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
Dennis Quaid is the poor man's Kurt Russell.
Mark Wahlberg is the poor man's Matt Damon.
etc.

Anyway, normally the case is obvious. And here, I think it is as well. One is obviously the poor man's version of the other, and the only people would disagree are bards, elves, and other assorted ne'er-do-wells. Which side did I take? Well.... I don't want to skew the results.

However, for purposes of this discussion, we are talking only about genre films, specifically science fiction. So ... vote in the poll. Let me know what you think. In the comments, tell me why.

(I am using the phrase "poor man's" because it's a common phrasing.)

You have presented an impossible choice for me. Gun to my head: Weller

 

[el-remmen]

Nope. I subscribe to @el-remmen 's newsletter.

There are only two kinds of people in the world, those who think there are only two kinds of people in the world, and those of us who know better.

 

[Helldritch]

Robocop all the way. Lance just died in Alien(s)... Ok, he dies well, but Wellers did a bit more than just Robocop.

 

[Ryujin]

lol, I remember a long conversation I've had with my friends. One of them is a Michael Madsen super fan oddly enough. We used to joke that Madsen was a poor man's Tom Sizemore, but uh, yeah the tables really turned on that one.

Lance is the discount model here.

Have you ever seen "Millennium"? Guy gets no love.

 

[payn]

Have you ever seen "Millennium"? Guy gets no love.

He gets plenty. Folks in this thread think he's a better actor than Peter Weller.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Robocop all the way. Lance just died in Alien(s)... Ok, he dies well, but Wellers did a bit more than just Robocop.

But Lance had Millenium, the X-Files spinoff!
And didn't he fly Blue Thunder? Oh, wait, that was Roy Schneider.
Peter Weller had a decent one-time role in Fringe.
Maybe I have to go in favor of Peter Weller, though Lance Henriksen is more present in my mind.

 

[payn]

And didn't he fly Blue Thunder? Oh, wait, that was Roy Schneider.

 

[James Gasik]

Lance was in an episode of The A-Team. Peter was not. Point to Lance!

 

[Helldritch]

But Lance had Millenium, the X-Files spinoff!
And didn't he fly Blue Thunder? Oh, wait, that was Roy Schneider.
Peter Weller had a decent one-time role in Fringe.
Maybe I have to go in favor of Peter Weller, though Lance Henriksen is more present in my mind.

Buckaroo Banzai. 1st role and the movie is still a classic even today.
Leviathan wasn't a bad movie and it is quite nice to watch even today.
Screamers... a classic too.
And Robocop. All first roles. What first roles in cinema had Lance put to classic?
Star Treck... He was quite good as the Bad Admiral Marcus.
Voice acting?
Batman.
But Buckaroo Banzai boy did I watch that movie. And Robocop, never forget Robocop!

Edit: Not that I do not like Lance. But he is a second violin. An extremely good second violin (support actor) but for 1st role, nothing comes to my mind. I did not like Millenium enough to follow it fully.