So continues to the career of the television star who’ll never say die. Dylan McDermott, former star of David E. Kelley’s hit legal melodrama The Practice, brief star of TNT’s short-lived action show Dark Blue and current star of FX’s new hit American Horror Story, is set to join the Jay Roach-directed political-comedy Dog Fight, also starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis and Jason Sudeikis [Deadline].
McDermott’s never become the movie star he looks like he should be, and it would appear those days of opportunity are past. After all, once you’re in a bad horror film as “the dad,” your star clock is ticking. Case in point, Ryan Reynolds survived The Amityville Horror, McDermott did not survive The Messengers. That said, the vet actor is playing “the dad” character on an apparent quality horror incarnation on FX, so there’s that, which is nice.
McDermott will play Tim Wattley, a political consultant who runs the campaign of a candidate (Galifianakis) from South Carolina. He’s also recently wrapped the high-profile indie The Perks of Being A Wallflower, hopefully cuing a middle-aged turn to successful character roles in films for an actor who never got the star-making project so many good-looking leading men pray for.
Dog Fight starts production in November.
What do you think of McDermott as an actor?