Why Anson Wix From CSI: Vegas Looks So Familiar

"CSI: Vegas," the 2021 CBS reboot of the original "Crime Scene Investigation" series, includes a mixture of new and returning characters. In the first season, familiar faces like Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) are joined by a variety of newcomers, including a particularly evil attorney by the name of Anson Wix (Jamie McShane). Equipped with a rather odd predilection towards a number of employees of the Las Vegas Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Wix does his best to murder and ruin the good name of former CSI David Hodges (Wallace Langham). Of course, just as audiences might have expected, things don't work out very well for Wix by the end of "CSI: Vegas" Season 1.

Jamie McShane, the actor playing Wix has appeared in nearly 150 other productions, including quite a few other TV series you have probably seen before (via IMDb). Because McShane's filmography is so extensive, we don't have time to cover all of it here, but we're gonna give you a few of his career highlights so far.

Like a lot of actors, most of McShane's early TV roles consisted of one-or-two-episode guest spots, including short stints on "Angel," "Six Feet Under," "Star Trek: Enterprise," "The X-Files," "Alias," "Firefly," and "Deadwood." After a few years of work in show business, McShane's talents and experience allowed him the opportunity to expand into recurring and series regular roles. McShane's first recurring role came in 2003 with the third season of "24." 

McShane plays White House Press Secretary Gerry Whitehorn for a total of six episodes in a season filled with drug dealers, deadly diseases, and danger around nearly every corner (via IMDb). Working in the administration of President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), Whitehorn advises the president and his brother, White House Chief of Staff Wayne Palmer (D.B. Woodside), on a key number of decisions. These include explaining the president's abrupt on-screen departure from a presidential debate and his controversial relationship with a doctor accused of medical malpractice. Perhaps most importantly, Whitehorn is also tasked with responding to reporters' questions about the release of the Cordilla virus at the Chandler Plaza Hotel and the threat posed by the additional missing canisters (via 24 Fandom).

Though McShane doesn't get much screen time and doesn't talk very much in the role, these six episodes obviously placed him in close proximity to a number of actors who won Emmy Awards for their parts in the series.

Long before he terrorized the cast of "CSI: Vegas" as Anson Wix, McShane actually appeared as four other minor characters in the "CSI" franchise. In Season 1, Episode 11 ("I-15 Murders"), McShane played Jeff Berlin, the victim of a murder case investigated by Sara Sidle and Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) (via CSI Fandom). Five years later, McShane returned in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" Season 6, Episode 1 ("Bodies in Motion") as a character named Eddie Vonner, a garbage man whose kind heart sadly places him near the scene of the crime of a murder. Though Vonner is quickly ruled out as a suspect, it turns out these two roles were only the beginning of McShane's career in the popular franchise (via CSI Fandom).

Little more than a year later, McShane also popped up in "CSI: Miami" Season 5, Episode 5 ("Death Eminent") as Timothy Nash, a neighbor to a suspect in a murder investigation. After CSI Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) witnesses an attempt to evict Nash, the CSI team discovers that Nash is part of a scheme to lower property values by committing crimes in certain neighborhoods. Though Nash is not found directly responsible for the death at the center of the investigation, his crimes help the team discover the identity of the killer (via CSI Fandom).

A whole six years later, McShane returned to the franchise in "CSI: NY" Season 5, Episode 9 ("Misconceptions") in the role of Mitch Ventri, a deli owner guilty of murdering someone more than twenty years prior to the main events of the episode (via CSI Fandom). Ultimately, Venti's mistakes catch up with him and he is arrested.

After playing a victim, two acquaintances, and a rather simple-minded murderer, it's no wonder McShane aimed for something a little more hefty during his time on "CSI: Vegas."

Plenty of television fans will also surely recognize McShane from his recurring role in the first three seasons of the popular FX drama "Sons of Anarchy." In this role, McShane played Cameron Hayes, a member of the Real Irish Republican Army and a dangerous associate of SAMCRO.

"Sons of Anarchy" fans are first introduced to Hayes in Season 1, Episode 8 ("The Pull") (via IMDb). Shortly after the death of his cousin, Michael McKeavey (Kevin Chapman), Hayes becomes SAMCRO's primary point of contact for weapons sold by the IRA. Though Hayes gets along relatively well with the group during the first season, things quickly go awry in Season 2 when he secretly begins to make deals with the Aryan Brotherhood, a noted enemy of SAMCRO. 

After the death of his son, Edmund (Callard Harris), Hayes goes on a grief-fueled temper tantrum, targeting Gemma Morrow (Katey Sagal), Tara Knowles (Maggie Siff), and the infant son of Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam), in addition to other important members of SAMCRO's ranks. Though Hayes manages to escape the country and make it back to Belfast, he doesn't last long after such a brazen attack on SAMCRO. In Season 3, Episode 3 ("Caregiver"), Hayes is murdered by Michael Casey (Glenn Keogh) in retaliation (via Sons of Anarchy Fandom).

One of the biggest roles of McShane's career so far was on Netflix's Bloodline, in which the actor played Eric O'Bannon, a troubled, middle-aged man with a history of criminal activities and general sleaziness. In addition to being the best friend and illegal business partner of Danny Rayburn (Ben Mendelsohn), O'Bannon is a continual thorn in the side of John Rayburn (Kyle Chandler) and other members of the Rayburn family. 

A lifelong criminal and apparent lowlife, O'Bannon can never seem to get himself anywhere near the path of the straight and narrow. Though this quality repeatedly leads him directly into failure, it also ultimately led many viewers and critics to sympathize with O'Bannon. In a 2015 interview with Seat 42F, McShane referred to O'Bannon's loyalty and ambition as two of the character's few redeeming qualities. "I think he is still a dreamer despite being so battered down by life," McShane said. "He still has ambitions and dreams even though life has beat him down so many times."

McShane is credited in all 33 entries of the series, but actually only appears in a total of 29 episodes (via Bloodline Fandom). All three seasons of "Bloodline" are streaming on Netflix.