A.C. Peterson

Canadian Alan Peterson (or A.C. Peterson, as he's known professionally) has earned a reputation as a hard-working character actor, bringing his tough-guy looks and hard physique to an eclectic variety of film and television projects. His first part, which was uncredited, came (appropriately) as a guard in the 1984 romantic drama "Mrs. Soffel," starring Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton. While he would never quite ascend to those levels of stardom, he did manage to rise above bit parts, popping up with more substantial roles in a few forgettable TV movies and one-off series appearances. Though the late '80s brought a number of gigs based mainly on his intimidating appearance (He appeared as "Strangler" in the 1987 TV movie "Sadle and Son"), he never threw in the towel, and by the mid-to-late '90s, he was racking up multiple jobs a year. In 1998, he appeared as a doctor on the family drama "Touched by an Angel"--a notably different part from his typical murderer/doorman roles. While many of his early parts had been confined to his home country, the early 2000s saw the actor moving primarily to American-based projects, and along with that switch came parts in more mainstream films, including the Jackie Chan-starring adventure-comedy "Shanghai Noon" and the gritty crime-thriller "Narc." As a true demonstration of how far he'd truly come, he portrayed Winston Churchill in the sci-fi thriller "Paradox."