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Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson built a screen career around the qualities casting directors noticed immediately: an athletic frame, distinctive features and the physical authority to stand opposite an action hero. That presence has often made him the adversary rather than the everyman, but Thompson has spoken candidly about the trade-off—it could limit the kinds of parts he was considered for while also providing consistent work. Born in Ellensburg, Washington, on August 28, 1959, and raised in Longview, Thompson studied business management at Central Washington University, where he played football and appeared in school productions. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine. His early ambitions were rooted in musical theatre, and he performed in productions including The King and I and Bitter Sweet before working as a resident actor at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in 1982. Thompson was still in school when he was cast as one of the punk thugs in The Terminator, alongside Bill Paxton. Television appearances in Moonlighting, Otherworld, Street Hawk and Knight Rider followed, before Cobra gave him a substantial big-screen villain role opposite Sylvester Stallone. His imposing screen presence continued to serve science-fiction, fantasy and action projects, including Dragonheart, in which he played Brok, and Mortal Kombat Annihilation, where he appeared as lead antagonist Shao Kahn. Television allowed Thompson to range further. He played the new-age Sheriff Cody Jeremiah Jefferson in the 13-episode ensemble series Key West, a part he has identified as his favorite. He also began a recurring association with The X-Files and appeared in Seven Days, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. Thompson has an especially long connection with Star Trek, playing a Klingon in Star Trek: The Next Generation before taking different roles in Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Generations and Enterprise. In 2014, he turned his own career experiences into The Extendables, an action-movie parody he produced, wrote and starred in. Later film work includes Trafficked, Hoax and The Tragedy of Macbeth.