Why does Tom Spencer from Dark Winds seem familiar? Here’s where you have seen the actor before

If you were watching Dark Winds Season 3 on AMC and thought, "Wait, where have I seen that guy before?" --- You're not alone! Bruce Greenwood, one of Hollywood's most ubiquitous actors, plays the slick oil baron Tom Spencer.

You might not recognize Greenwood's name right away, but his face? It's like seeing an old friend in a movie. The Canadian actor has been a staple in TV and movies for more than 40 years, whether he's playing a quiet menace or commanding the screen as a morally fractured leader.

Bruce Greenwood's roles before Dark Winds

Before Dark Winds’ Navajo Nation, Bruce Greenwood was haunting Netflix viewers as patriarch Roderick Usher in The Fall of the House of Usher. That gothic fever dream from Mike Flanagan saw Greenwood giving Shakespearean levels of gravitas to a modern-day monster.

If you’re more into action or sci-fi, you probably remember him as Captain Christopher Pike from J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot films (Star Trek in 2009 and Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013). There, he is an intergalactic dad figure if there ever was one!

And that’s just scratching the surface because Greenwood’s résumé reads like a cross-section of Hollywood’s most interesting projects: the haunted husband in Gerald’s Game, the President of the United States in Thirteen Days, and even a supporting player in The Post, rubbing shoulders with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. He’s been the voice of Batman in animated films, too.

So if you’ve watched movies or TV anytime in the last 20 years, you’ve likely seen Bruce Greenwood.

How Bruce Greenwood plays Tom Spencer on Dark Winds

In Dark Winds Season 3, Greenwood trades in his uniform and suits for the charm of the American Southwest. Tom Spencer initially seems like a business mogul, but he’s got more than a few skeletons buried under that oil field.

Greenwood is an expert at playing the subtly evil villain. To make your skin crawl, he doesn't have to yell or pull out a gun. Every frame is made more uncomfortable by his presence and his interactions with Zahn McClarnon's Joe Leaphorn. This part fits in well with Greenwood's recognized "gentleman menace."

Bruce Greenwood has worked with Hollywood directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Atom Egoyan, and Denis Villeneuve. The man is now 69 years old and enjoys a unique longevity that is derived from his range. And Dark Winds serves as one more instance of his astounding ability to change into the villain we love to hate. That is, whoever the story requires him to be.

Rest easy the next time you catch Tom Spencer behind those shades, then. One of the top shape-shifters in Hollywood has entered the chat!

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Watch Dark Winds on AMC or Amazon Prime Video.

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