Craig Sheffer

Strikingly if unconventionally handsome, Sheffer has had a spotty film career but tends to shine in TV-movies and miniseries. While appealing as affable "himbos" ("Babycakes" CBS, 1989) and cut-rate Cassanovas ("Sleep With Me" 1994; "Bloodknot" Showtime, 1995), Sheffer may be best served by playing reckless charmers abetted by an unselfconscious sense of entitlement ("Some Kind of Wonderful" 1987; "A Season in Purgatory" CBS, 1996). With his straightforward naturalistic performance style, he veers toward the competent and amiable rather than the charismatic and compelling. This quality was well showcased in his most high-profile project, Robert Redford's "A River Runs Through It" (1992). Against an exquisitely photographed natural backdrop, the film depicted the relationship between two very different sons of a stern but loving minister father (Tom Skerritt). Sheffer brought well-tempered nuances to the role of the stable and responsible older brother of the golden but doomed Brad Pitt. Sheffer had the less showy role but held his own.