Paul Giamatti (Creator)

Creator / Paul Giamatti

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"A man known as an 'actor’s actor', 'a devoted craftsman', and, of course, as 'the guy who was good in that thing you really liked'."

—Stephen Colbert right before giving Giamatti his own wax statue (which is really just a statue of Zachary Taylor wearing a cardboard Giamatti mask), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (born June 6, 1967 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American actor best known for Sideways, John Adams, American Splendor, and a slew of roles in other films. His brother Marcus Giamatti is also an actor, and was a regular on Judging Amy. Their father, A. Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti, was president of Yale University from 1978 to 1986 and became commissioner of Major League Baseball about five months before dying in 1989; his death came only eight days after he permanently banned Pete Rose from MLB for betting on games.

This actor provides examples of the following tropes:

Award Snub: Has made a career of having acclaimed performances not get noticed at the Oscars. The most notable are American Splendor, Sideways and Barney's Version (he did win a Golden Globe for the latter though). His one nomination (a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Cinderella Man) was widely seen as a make-up for the Sideways snub.
The Danza: Played a character named Paul Giamatti in Cold Souls.
Large Ham: Has a tendency to play one of these. See John Adams, Shoot 'em Up and Ironclad for just three examples.
The Napoleon: He's of average height (5ft 9) but is usually made to look shorter and bent in several roles, specially in the less heroic ones.