Why Ted Connelly From True Detective: Night Country Looks So Familiar

Contains spoilers for "True Detective: Night Country" Episode 2

Ennis might be a small town in northernmost Alaska, but its law enforcement personnel has personality to spare. As the area descends into a long polar night and eight scientists disappear from a nearby research station, "True Detective: Night Country" focuses on the people tasked with solving the mystery. The series' main focus is on Ennis police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and her uneasy history with Alaska State Trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), and the show also devotes time to the uneasy father-son dynamic of officers Hank (John Hawkes) and Peter Prior (Finn Bennett).

Episode 2 adds another police element to the mix when Captain Ted Connelly makes his presence known. Concerned by the case and intending to take it out of the hands of the locals, Connelly initially seems like your average disgruntled superior archetype. However, the banter between him and Danvers soon reveals a complicated tug-of-war between the pair's professional animosity and personal desires.

Before Connelly turns up, Danvers has established herself as an unyielding force of nature, so seeing the two trade barbs and give in to their impulses shows a completely new side to her. Veteran actor Christopher Eccleston shines as Foster's scene partner, which may prompt viewers to wonder where else they've seen the actor ply his trade. Here's a quick look at some of Eccleston's best-known work.

In 2002, Christopher Eccleston was part of the all-star cast of the genre-redefining zombie(ish) movie "28 Days Later." Written by genre luminary Alex Garland and directed by budding superstar filmmaker Danny Boyle of "Trainspotting" fame, the film tells the tale of a zombie plague-style rage virus that has affected most of the United Kingdom and, possibly, the world.

The story unfolds through the eyes of bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy), who wakes from a coma to discover that the world has changed horribly. On his quest for survival, he meets a vast supporting cast of today's A-listers, from Brendan Gleeson's Frank to Naomie Harris' Selena — and, of course, Eccleston's Major Henry West, who commands a survivor compound in a fashion that goes roughly as well as you can expect of such an endeavor in a zombie film.

The movie was shot on a shoestring budget with actors who were relatively unknown at the time. Apart from seasoned vet Gleeson, Eccleston was arguably the best-known name of the central bunch by a pretty comfortable margin, but unlike his unsavory character, he turned out to be a pretty alright guy. In fact, according to Inverse, he agreed to take a pay cut to ensure the movie could afford to finish shooting.

"Doctor Who" is arguably Britain's biggest and best-known contribution to sci-fi television, but without Christopher Eccleston, the show might never have become the small-screen juggernaut it is today. In 2005, the BBC revived the time-traveling alien Time Lord's show for modern audiences and Eccleston was cast as the ninth incarnation of the titular hero. Unlike the colorful costumes of his predecessors, this Doctor sports a no-nonsense haircut and a simple black leather jacket, and his offbeat attitude has a heavy melancholy undertone due to the atrocities he's witnessed. 

The fact that the show is still going strong is a testament to Eccleston's success in the role, and he's considered one of the best Doctors from "Doctor Who" despite his short tenure. Unfortunately, the actor's memories of the experience aren't entirely pleasant. He left the show after the first revival series due to behind-the-scenes differences, a decision that caused plenty of criticism and, according to the actor, a lengthy falling out with the higher-ups at the BBC. 

"What happened around Doctor Who almost destroyed my career," Eccleston told The Guardian in 2018. "I gave them a hit show and I left with dignity and then they put me on a blacklist. I was carrying my own insecurities as it was something I had never done before and then I was abandoned, vilified in the tabloid press, and blacklisted. I was told by my agent at the time: 'The BBC regime is against you. You're going to have to get out of the country and wait for regime change.' So I went away to America and I kept on working because that's what my parents instilled in me."

In 2013, Christopher Eccleston joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe to terrorize Asgard as Malekith the Accursed, the dark elf villain of "Thor: The Dark World." Unfortunately, in real life, the terror he experienced was somewhat different.

Eccleston has been open about the fact that he didn't particularly enjoy his MCU experience, having cited the long hours at the makeup chair as his primary gripe in playing what many MCU fans think is Marvel's most wasted bad guy. The film's take on Malekith failed to make waves despite Eccleston's talent, and as a result, the character most casual moviegoers likely associate Eccleston with remains one of the MCU's least impressive villains. Maybe it's a good thing that he was wearing all that face-obscuring makeup after all. 

On a more positive note, Eccleston did get to work with his favorite actor, Anthony Hopkins, who plays Odin in the movie. In an interview with the Vancouver Sun, Eccleston described admiring Hopkins' stage work at the National Theatre while the younger man worked as an usher there, so getting the opportunity to share a scene was an important experience. "And then 30 years later I wind up in a scene with him," Eccleston said. "And I told him. I wasn't sycophantic, but I said, 'When I was a kid, you were a huge inspiration to me. Thank you.' And he said, 'You're welcome.'" Unfortunately, the scene they shot didn't make it into the finished movie.

Critics and viewers alike love "The Leftovers," one of the more thought-provoking supernatural drama shows in recent history. Based on author Tom Perrotta's novel, the concept of part of the world's population unexpectedly disappearing proved fascinating. And the show doesn't pull punches exploring the global devastation this would cause — especially with everyone openly wondering whether the incident was the Rapture.

Christopher Eccleston plays Matt Jamison, a priest who's made it his mission to convince the world that the disappeared people were far from good, digging up nasty facts about them. Apart from this somewhat peculiar coping mechanism, however, Matt is an extremely decent guy who goes through some pretty strange things before his story arc is over.

Interestingly, we almost didn't get Eccleston's powerhouse "The Leftovers" performance, as the character wasn't originally part of the series. The actor told Digital Spy that he actively lobbied for a role in the show, and ultimately succeeded. "I approached Damon Lindelof about the part," he said. "I heard that HBO had optioned the novel, The Leftovers, so I read it and got an audition for the lead role. They didn't want me for that, but then I asked to meet Damon, and he was intrigued. I spoke to him about Matt Jamison, who was not even gonna be in the series, and he was enthused by my take on Matt, and it grew from there, really."

Christopher Eccleston has been at it since 1990, so it's hardly a surprise that he's amassed a huge number of credits over the decades. Before he started making waves in Hollywood, he was known in the UK for roles like D.C.I. Bilborough in the crime drama "Cracker" and the increasingly unbalanced David Stephens in Danny Boyle's darkly comedic pre-"Trainspotting" thriller "Shallow Grave."

Since then, he's terrorized Nicolas Cage as the villainous Raymond Calitri in "Gone in 60 Seconds," played Nicole Kidman's husband in Alejandro Amenábar's gothic horror film "The Others," and hunted the heroic Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) as the evil Rider in "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising." He's also played Destro in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" and Nipper Read in the Tom Hardy gangster drama "Legend," among other roles.

Eccleston's small-screen career has been no less prolific. He delivered an early benchmark performance as Nicky Hutchinson on the 1996 BBC miniseries "Our Friends in the North," opposite fellow future stars Daniel Craig and Mark Strong. He also cut a memorable messiah figure as Stephen Baxter on "Second Coming" and played the invisible man Claude Rains on "Heroes," along with many other memorable turns.