Why Cutty From The Rookie: Feds Looks So Familiar

A spin-off of ABC's popular "The Rookie" police procedural where Nathan Fillion's 40-something John Nolan seeks out a career in law enforcement while dealing with the challenges that come with entering the police profession at his relatively advanced age, "The Rookie: Feds" seeks to recapture the lighting in the bottle at a federal level. This time, the rookie in question is Niecy Nash-Bett's former school counselor Simone Clark, who sets out to become an FBI agent. 

While Clark faces many of the same challenges Nolan does, she also has a fairly huge problem on the home front. His father, prominent civil rights activist Cutty Clark, has more than his share of experience about the unfairness of the legal system, and he's less than thrilled about his daughter's new career path. As it happens, just like the character, Cutty's actor has been around for quite a while, and some of the projects he's been involved in might be very, very familiar to you. Here's where you've seen Frankie Faison before.

To list all the significant projects Frankie Faison has been a part of during his lengthy career would be a truly daunting task. His vast résumé ranges from main roles in shows like "Banshee" to copious film credits and numerous guest star appearances in shows like "Oz," "Blacklist" and "Blue Bloods." Without a doubt, however, one of his most notable early projects was Spike Lee's 1989 ensemble classic "Do the Right Thing." It wasn't his first famous late-1980s movie — he also has a brief but memorable role as a landlord in the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy "Coming to America" — but the cultural impact of Lee's movie can't be denied. 

Faison plays a comparatively small but nevertheless crucial role as Coconut Sid, one of the Greek Chorus trio that observes the rapidly escalating proceedings. In an interview with the A.V. Club, Faison noted that the role basically dropped in his lap since he'd managed to impress Lee during their time at New York University. "Well, without a doubt, the great Spike Lee's always been important to me," Faison said. "He went to NYU, I went to NYU, I was a few years ahead of him, and when he cast me in this, he said, 'You don't remember, but I told you I was gonna work with you one day, and I always wanted to, so here it is.' And he offered me the role of Coconut Sid."

Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) meets many iconic characters during his adventures, but unfortunately for them, the meetings with "Hannibal the Cannibal" tend to be fairly brief. However, there's one particular character who doesn't just make it through his encounters with Dr. Lecter but gains a modicum of respect from the serial killer. Said character is Frankie Faison's reasonable orderly, Barney Matthews, who treats Lecter as well as it's possible in the circumstances of his incarceration. When Lecter inevitably escapes, Barney's not only one of the only characters who have no reason to be afraid of him, but he actually manages to appear in "The Silence of the Lambs," 2001's "Hannibal" and the 2002 prequel, "Red Dragon." That's an impressive streak in a movie series where few supporting characters are safe.

Faison's Barney is a calm, gentle, kind, and courteous professional who still watches Lecter like a hawk. Nonetheless, he's not entirely without vice, as we eventually find out that Barney has a side business of selling Lecter-adjacent items online for a cozy profit. It's also worth noting that Faison plays another character in the first film version of "Silence of the Lambs" called "Manhunter," in which Brian Cox plays Lecter. This makes him the only actor who's appeared in four different Hannibal Lecter movies.

The Baltimore Police Department in "The Wire" isn't known for its competent high command, to the point that higher-ranking officers can be a more significant threat to effective operations than criminals. Time and time again, Cedric Daniels' (Lance Reddick) budding Major Crimes Unit finds this out the hard way when they bump into people like Ervin Burrell. Frankie Faison's career cop is a comparatively mellow guy, as Baltimore bureaucrats go. Nevertheless, his tendency to prefer politics to policing makes him a huge problem ... especially since not all of his powerful friends are entirely squeaky clean.

A bureaucrat and a lackey who is largely despised by his superiors and underlings, Burrell's not an easy role to play, especially since he does show his more compassionate side every once in a blue moon. The conniving character was a departure from Faison's usual fare, and the actor was somewhat surprised by the reaction Burrell drew. 

"Burrell... I love that guy," the actor told the A.V. Club. "But when the series came out, people were all talking about what a horrible person I am. My trademark is affable, lovely, funny, delightful guys. And they're saying I'm this horrible guy? And I was getting emotional. I would go home, and my wife would say, 'Look, it's just a character in a story. Don't take it so personally.' I said, 'I do take it personally!'" Nevertheless, Faison had a great time making the show and he's extremely proud of its legacy.

Who do you bring in when you need a man who can easily command the respect of both one of the strongest Marvel heroes and his terrifying adversary? Frankie Faison, that's who. In "Luke Cage" Season 1, Faison plays Henry "Pop" Hunter, owner and proprietor of Pop's Barber Shop. A former gang member who's turned into a community leader, Pop's shop serves as an informal Harlem hub that's considered to be off-limits by virtually everyone, and the combination of his shady past and current, far more positive alignment has earned him plenty of goodwill from both the heroic Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and crime lord Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes (Mahershala Ali).   

Pop's role in the show extends far beyond the usual mentor trope, and he's a force of good despite his past. As such, the character is right in line with Faison's personal role-choosing ethics, which he described to The Official Black Magazine in 2023. "Anything with a negative take on it is not for me," the actor described his policy. "When I say negative take, I mean the character exudes something negative and harmful to the community. When the dots aren't connecting for me, and the role just doesn't interest me, it doesn't matter how much money or worthwhile the opportunity is. I won't take it."