Veronica Mars: Who Plays Jake Kane & Why Does He Look So Familiar?

When Hulu greenlit a new season of the cult hit crime drama "Veronica Mars," expectations were through the roof, with many fans desperate to see Kristen Bell again sharing the screen with as many former cast mates as possible. Thankfully, the "Veronica Mars" team managed to bring quite a few original players along for more sleuthing shenanigans in sunny Neptune, California, including one of Season 1's central players, Neptune's own tech billionaire, Jake Kane.

Played with gusto by Kyle Secor, Kane is a semi-tragic figure throughout the first season of "Veronica Mars," largely because he is the father of Lily Kane (Amanda Seyfried), whose murder the titular teen detective is out to solve. As it happens, Veronica is also Lily's BFF and, as the season unfolds, it's discovered she might not be the biological daughter of Jake Kane. Once Veronica cracks the murder case and her non-Kane parentage is confirmed, Jake is largely MIA before resurfacing in Season 4 as the man behind Neptune's shiny new high school.

If you've seen him in the Season 4 episode, you know Secor is at his smarmy best in his cameo. But that subtle smarm was surely no surprise to fans of NBC's groundbreaking crime series "Homicide: Life on the Streets," as Secor pretty much perfected it on the cult hit police drama.

Like many actors before him, Kyle Secor actually got his start in the soap opera arena, earning his first screen credit on "Santa Barbara" in the mid-1980s. In 1987, Secor found himself sharing scenes with none other than Denzel Washington when he joined the esteemed cast of "St. Elsewhere" for an eight-episode run, with roles on "Tales from the Crypt," "NYPD Blue," and "Law & Order" soon following.

Secor didn't book "Homicide: Life on the Streets" until 1993, and the show became a legit breakout for the young actor, with Secor essentially inventing his signature smarm as bi-curious detective Tim Bayless over 122 episodes. Secor's low-key scene-stealing work helped make him a legit standout in an all-star ensemble featuring heavy hitters like Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Melissa Leo, and Ned Beaty, among others.

Even more than two decades after the series ended, "Homicide: Life on the Streets" and Detective Tim Bayless remain calling cards for Secor, who reprised the role for the 2000 made-for-TV follow-up, "Homicide: The Movie." Signature role status aside, Bayless is obviously far from the last notable character the actor has played.

After wrapping "Homicide: Life on the Streets" in 2000, Kyle Secor went on to book work on other hits like "Without a Trace," "CSI," "Boston Legal," and "The Ghost Whisperer." But while he's worked more in television than film throughout his career, Secor is hardly a stranger to big-screen projects, landing roles in some of the biggest films of the '80s and '90s, including legit blockbusters like "Sleeping With the Enemy" and "City Slickers."

Secor returned to the big screen in a big way in 2016, delivering one of the more terrifying turns of his career in "The Purge: Election Year." If you've seen the film, you know it's chock full of truly unsettling performances. However, few come close to topping Secor's blood-thirsty, fire and brimstone-spewing Minister Edwidge Owens. Owens enters the tumultuous narrative as the presidential candidate for the Purge-loving New Founding Fathers of America.  

That character resurfaces late in the movie and very nearly makes a blood sacrifice of his competition, Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), before a crew of anti-Purge freedom fighters interrupts the unholy proceedings. Minister Owens meets a well-deserved end for himself during the siege, of course. Despite his bloody demise, it's safe to say Secor more than left his mark on "The Purge" franchise.

Kyle Secor followed his bone-chilling role in "The Purge: Election Year" with spots in small-screen staples like "White Collar," "Criminal Minds," "Castle," "Grey's Anatomy," and "American Horror Story," among others. And among those others, you will indeed find a cracking villainous turn in The CW's Arrowverse. He did so in the franchise's beloved series, "The Flash," facing off against super-powered speedster Barry Allen in a Season 5 arc as the frosty big bad known as Icicle.

Icicle is the abominable alter ego of Dr. Thomas Snow, a renowned geneticist and doting father who developed meta-human abilities after enduring radical treatments for his ALS. Though he managed to pause the disease's progression in himself, he came to discover his daughter Caitlin Snow had also inherited the gene for ALS. After giving her the same treatment, she developed similar abilities, transforming into Killer Frost.

All of that is, more or less, just the beginning of the Snow family saga on "The Flash," with things going tragically sideways and then some over Secor's three-episode stint. As any fan of the series can confirm, the actor was at the top of his game throughout.

Kyle Secor has continued delivering memorable roles on the small screen of late, following "The Flash" with a four-episode stint on "9-1-1 Lone Star." Most recently, Secor starred as a tough-talking federal agent in a pair of episodes of ABC's hit procedural "The Rookie." 

Secor made his first appearance on "The Rookie" as Special Agent Sam Taggart in a Season 3 episode titled "Triple Duty." The episode found him approaching Detective Angela Lopez about teaming up to bring down a nefarious local drug lord, though he doesn't exactly broach the topic gracefully. Instead, Taggart tries to bully Lopez into playing ball, which Lopez doesn't appreciate. When Lopez's dealings with the drug lord ultimately get her kidnapped and shipped off to Guatemala, John Nolan and crew eventually turn up to rescue her.

They, of course, seek help from Taggart before setting off on that mission, with the agent explaining behind a blend of genuine concern and "told you so" swagger that his hands were tied due to the political ramifications of such a rescue being headed by U.S. authorities. And yes, Secor's dexterous work in delivering that message was a legit episode highlight.