Why Teddy Franklin From Our Kind Of People Looks So Familiar

"Our Kind of People" is one of Fox's more interesting additions in its late-2021 slate. Based on a book by Lawrence Otis Graham, the show focuses on Angela Vaughn (Yaya DaCosta) and her teenage daughter Nikki (Alana Kay Bright), who relocate from Boston to the elite area of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, where old money and old secrets reign supreme. 

A drama like this needs both an intriguing plot and a great cast to truly thrive. Fortunately, "Our Kind of People" has both. Though everyone in the show is truly talented, the viewer's eye is easily drawn to one character in particular: Teddy Franklin, a powerful old money tycoon who is one of the biggest power players in the show — and has the gravitas to go with it.  

Teddy is the kind of character who can steal any scene he's in, and as you might guess, the actor portraying him has plenty of experience in major productions. In fact, you may very well have seen him before in some of your favorite shows and movies. Here's why Teddy Franklin from "Our Kind of People" looks so familiar. 

Joe Morton is a veteran of both big and small screen, and his first screen credits are from 1970. With over five decades in the business, he's appeared in all sorts of legendary shows and films, from "A Different World" and "The Good Wife" to "Speed" and "American Gangster." His movie career alone is so vast and varied that it takes a truly historic role to stand out among his many quality performances. Fortunately, in 1991, he appeared in precisely such a role.

James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" is a stone cold sci-fi action classic, and arguably the crown jewel of Arnold Schwarzenegger's extensive action hero career. The "Terminator" franchise is all about a villainous artificial intelligence called Skynet that will start eradicating the human race in the not-too-distant future ... and isn't above sending killer robots in the past to ensure that John Connor (Edward Furlong) won't survive long enough to become the leader of the human resistance. For all of this to be possible, someone has to invent Skynet — and Joe Morton's Cyberdyne Systems engineer Dr. Miles Dyson is that someone. 

Miles is shocked to learn of his integral role in creating the Big Bad of the "Terminator" franchise, and agrees to help the protagonists on their mission to destroy his research. In a 2017 interview with IGN, Morton reflected on the role, and revealed that very few fans considered his character to be the harbinger of apocalypse. "Actually, most people view it the other way around, that because I decided to, you know, blow up Skynet, that I actually am responsible for saving the world," Morton said.

In 2006, Joe Morton added to his considerable sci-fi chops by joining the cast of "Eureka." The Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) show about a group of brilliant scientists secretly working away in a tiny town of Eureka, Oregon ran for five seasons, and Morton's Dr. Henry Deacon was a series mainstay throughout the show's tenure. 

Dr, Deacon is at least as brilliant as any other scientist in Eureka, but since he objects to the moral aspects of the scientific work conducted in the town, he has reinvented himself as a seemingly humble blue-collar type — who nevertheless tends to be front and center in any battle against an experiment gone awry, and whose own scientific skills are often instrumental in saving the day.  

In an interview with The Sci-Fi World, Morton revealed that he couldn't resist "Eureka" after learning what kind of character he'd get to play. "Henry was the core reason I took the job," the actor said. "He's a complicated guy who maintains a 'behind every dark cloud there is a golden lining' attitude. He's a genius who won't work on weapons. He's a man who lost the only love he ever knew and doesn't know why. So he's like a shark when it comes to science. He has boundless energy. He eats, sleeps and breathes it in science without abatement."

Joe Morton has won plenty of awards over the course of his lengthy career (via IMDb). However, if you had to name the individual role that has earned him the most acclaim — as well as the sole Emmy win of his career — look no further than his excellent tenure as Rowan "Elijah" Pope in ABC's political thriller show "Scandal." 

Morton's character is the father of Washington fixer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), and a massively dangerous man. The secret head of a CIA black ops program, he initially appears in the show in a rather minor capacity, but his role increases over time into one of the most frightening, capable, and captivating villains in the entire series. 

As Morton told Collider in 2017, he was keen to join the acclaimed show in a rare villain role, but it wasn't until one of the character's juicy speeches in Season 3 when the actor realized what a compelling character he truly had in his hands. "When Shonda [Rhimes] had written that wonderful monologue with, 'I am the hell and the high water,' it really cemented his sense of who he is, his sense of power and his relationship with his daughter," Morton described the moment he truly understood the complex Rowan. "At the same time, it gave a real understanding of where his villainy comes from. Once all of those things were established, I thought, 'Oh, I see. This is who this guy really is.'"

Not content with just inventing Skynet and presiding over Eureka, Joe Morton eventually returned to the tech-obsessed doctor well as the creator of one of the most powerful members in the DC Extended Universe. Morton makes his cameo debut as Dr. Silas Stone in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," and appears in a more prominent fashion in 2017's "Justice League." He's also an important part of 2021's "Zack Snyder's Justice League." 

Morton's character is the father of Vic Stone (Ray Fisher). After Vic has a bad accident, Silas turns his son into the robotic superhero Cyborg, and both of them later come in conflict with the villain Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds). Silas' story arc is one of the better examples of the differences between the theatrical cut of "Justice League," and Zack Snyder's original cut that premiered on HBO Max in 2021. In the theatrical version, the character survives his predicament, and lives on to further improve Vic's various abilities. In the Snyder Cut, however, Silas dies in a moment of heroic sacrifice. 

Silas' death in his own lab bears similarities to Dr. Miles Dyson's fate in "Terminator 2," but in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Morton said that he feels Dr. Stone's sacrifice is actually closer to the fate of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator in the movie. "I think that [Dr. Stone's] self-sacrifice was the ultimate human gesture, if you will," Morton said. "The same thing was true in 'Terminator 2'. When the Terminator actually sacrifices himself at the end of the film, it's because he understands the fullness of humanity and what that means in terms of making it better for other people. And I think that's certainly what Silas is going through in that moment."