Gunton appears in Daredevil, in a role that draws directly on the register he is best known for: institutional power exercised with an air of moral rectitude. He plays such men without any wink to the audience, which is why they are unsettling rather than entertaining.
He came from American musical theatre, with major Broadway roles and award nominations to his name, before moving into film and television work. That stage background explains his vocal control and his comfort with the elevated formality his characters tend to use. He served in the military before performing, an experience he has spoken about.
Recurring subjects: hypocrisy, men who justify cruelty through institutional necessity, and authority that presents itself as principle rather than as power. He plays precisely and without excess, and his most frightening performances are also his quietest, which is why they endure long after louder ones are forgotten.
His prison warden in a nineteen nineties adaptation of a novella is among the most recognisable antagonists in American cinema, appearing in a film that has become one of the most watched of its era. His stage work drew major theatre award nominations decades earlier.
For viewers who want antagonists built on institutional authority. Suited to anyone following superhero television, and to those who will recognise the face from the prison drama immediately and want to know where else he has been.
