Top 10 Minor Coen Brothers' Characters

Actors perennially name Joel and Ethan Coen when listing their dream directors. And they know when the Brothers Coen do come calling, whatever the part, big or small: You take it. It doesn't hurt that some of the most-memorable characters in the Coen filmography may have looked like insignificant cameos on the page.

The Coen Brothers' latest, Burn After Reading, releases this Friday. As certified members of the Coen Brothers Fan Club (seriously, look it up), we decided to count down the 10 most-memorable "minor" characters in Coen history. We even managed to add a character from Burn After Reading.

Are we missing any of your faves? Drop a comment below and let us know your picks.

	Za-Za (Anna Nicole Smith in The Hudsucker Proxy) The voluptuous Smith got her chance to portray idol Marilyn Monroe, albeit briefly, in this eye-catching moment from the Coen's misunderstood riff on corporate America.
	Howard D. Doyle (Billy Bob Thornton in Intolerable Cruelty) Con artist and trophy wife Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones) employs the aid of a partner in crime, Howard D. Doyle, in order to make Miles Massey (George Clooney) smitten. Thornton really plays it up as the country bumpkin billionaire, making his later reveal all the more surprising.
	Tommy Johnson (Chris Thomas King in O Brother, Where Art Thou?) King's memorable portrayal of the little-known blues legend thrilled aficionados and offered a fitting tribute to the mysterious bluesman. The fact that King had never acted before didn't faze the Coens one bit. And proving them right, King's performance is spot-on, every bit the nonchalant, cool character the legendary Tommy Johnson is believed to be.
	Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner in Barton Fink) The Coens clearly had a good time poking fun at a blustering studio chief, most likely basing Lipnick on some studio execs they've encountered. Years later, Lerner threw some elements of Lipnick into his producer character on Entourage.
	Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson in No Country For Old Men) Wells is everything the menacing, calculated, and precise Anton Chigurh is not -- wise-cracking, sloppy, and, ultimately, dead.
	Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito in Miller's Crossing) Polito is a Coen regular, also appearing in Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, The Hudsucker Proxy, and The Man Who Wasn't There. He's great in all of them, but the role of Johnny Caspar gave him the best chance to strut his stuff. Caspar's less-than-menacing appearance is sharply contrasted by great quotes like "You double-cross once -- where's it all end? An interesting ethical question." His cold-hearted murders generally are followed by comical quips. Added to that, he offers one of the most-brutal beatdowns this side of Fight Club.
	CIA Superior (J.K. Simmons in Burn After Reading) Simmons has mastered the quick-talking, angry superior role. In Burn After Reading, we never quite know exactly what his character's rank or job is in the CIA. But it doesn't matter. Simmons' sense of humor, crisp delivery, and pitch-perfect comic timing are key to the utterly preposterous conclusion.
	Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh in Blood Simple) M. Emmet Walsh's sleazy detective is, in many ways, the prototype for numerous shady Coen characters to come: Visser is out for himself and doesn't mind leaving bodies in his path if it gets him more of what most everyone in Coenland is after -- money.
	Leonard Smalls (Randall "Tex" Cobb in Raising Arizona) A former professional boxer and kickboxer, this six-foot-three "warthog from hell" casts an intimidating presence in any form. But never more so than here, where he's in chaps on a Harley with double sawed-off shotguns. And did we mention that Woody Woodpecker tattoo? The perfect touch that could only come from the Coens.
	Jesus Quintana (John Turturro in The Big Lebowski) Two days of shooting and two minutes of screen time were enough to create one of the most-beloved characters in Coen movie history. "Nobody f---s with The Jesus!"

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