Will Patton
William Rankin Patton is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series Falling Skies. He also appeared in films such as Remember the Titans, Armageddon, Gone in 60 Seconds and The Punisher. He appeared opposite Kevin Costner in two films: No Way Out and The Postman. He won two Obie Awards for best actor in Sam Shepard's play Fool for Love and the Public Theater production of What Did He See?.
Early life
Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University. Patton was raised on a farm, where his parents ran a foster home for wayward teenagers. He attended the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem and The Actors' Studio in New York City, New York.Career
Patton won two Obie Awards for best actor for his performances in Sam Shepard's play Fool for Love and the Public Theater production of What Did He See?. He portrayed the evil antagonist in Desperately Seeking Susan, and had a significant role in No Way Out, his first major film. He was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of General Bethlehem in The Postman. He also portrayed coach Bill Yoast in Remember the Titans and FBI agent Melvin Purvis in the 1991 made-for-television film Dillinger, before an acclaimed supporting actor performance in Armageddon. Patton provided the voice for the audio version of The Assault on Reason by Al Gore, as well as the role of Alan Wilson on the TV show 24. He has also recorded the audio version for 22 books written by best-selling mystery writer James Lee Burke. Patton plays the character of Sam Conroy in the film American Violet.From 2011 to 2015, he starred as Colonel Weaver in the TNT sci-fi television series Falling Skies, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg.
In 2019, Patton portrayed Avery Sunderland in the DC Universe TV series, Swamp Thing .
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Variety | Mark | |
| 1983 | King Blank | Bar Customer | |
| 1983 | Silkwood | Joe | |
| 1985 | The Beniker Gang | Forest Ranger | |
| 1985 | Desperately Seeking Susan | Wayne Nolan | |
| 1985 | After Hours | Horst | |
| 1986 | Chinese Boxes | Lang Marsh | |
| 1986 | Belizaire the Cajun | Matthew Perry | |
| 1987 | No Way Out | Scott Pritchard | |
| 1988 | Wildfire | Mike | |
| 1988 | Stars and Bars | Duane Gage | |
| 1989 | Signs of Life | Mr. Coughlin | |
| 1990 | Everybody Wins | Jerry | |
| 1990 | A Shock to the System | Lt. Laker | |
| 1990 | Bright Angel | Woody | Uncredited |
| 1991 | The Rapture | Deputy Foster | |
| 1991 | Cold Heaven | Father Niles | |
| 1992 | In the Soup | Skippy | |
| 1993 | The Paint Job | Wesley | |
| 1993 | Midnight Edition | Jack Travers | |
| 1993 | Romeo Is Bleeding | Martie | |
| 1994 | Tollbooth | Dash Pepper | |
| 1994 | Natural Causes | Michael Murphy | |
| 1994 | Judicial Consent | Alan Warwick | |
| 1994 | The Client | Sergeant Hardy | |
| 1994 | The Puppet Masters | Dr. Graves | |
| 1995 | Copycat | Nicoletti | |
| 1996 | Plain Pleasures | ||
| 1996 | The Spitfire Grill | Nahum Goddard | |
| 1996 | Fled | Det. Matthew 'Gib' Gibson | |
| 1997 | Inventing the Abbotts | Lloyd Abbott | |
| 1997 | Hounddogg | ||
| 1997 | This World, Then the Fireworks | Lt. Morgan | |
| 1997 | The Postman | General Bethlehem | |
| 1998 | O.K. Garage | Sean | |
| 1998 | Armageddon | Charles 'Chick' Chapple | |
| 1998 | I Woke Up Early the Day I Died | Preacher | |
| 1999 | Breakfast of Champions | Moe the Truck Driver | |
| 1999 | Entrapment | Hector Cruz | |
| 1999 | Jesus' Son | John Smith | |
| 2000 | Gone in 60 Seconds | Atley Jackson | |
| 2000 | Trixie | W. 'Red' Rafferty | |
| 2000 | Remember the Titans | Coach Bill Yoast | |
| 2002 | The Mothman Prophecies | Gordon Smallwood | |
| 2004 | The Punisher | Quentin Glass | |
| 2006 | Road House 2 | Nate Tanner | |
| 2007 | Riley | ||
| 2007 | A Mighty Heart | DSS Special Agent Randall Bennett | |
| 2007 | The List | Michael Harriston | |
| 2007 | Dog Days of Summer | Eli Cottonmouth | |
| 2008 | Wendy and Lucy | Mechanic | |
| 2008 | American Violet | Sam Conroy | |
| 2008 | Lucky Days | J.C. | |
| 2009 | Barbarian Princess | Sanford B. Dole | |
| 2009 | Looking at Animals | Raymond | |
| 2009 | The Canyon | Henry | |
| 2009 | The Fourth Kind | Sheriff August | |
| 2009 | Waking Madison | Madison's Father | |
| 2009 | The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond | Old Man Dobyne | |
| 2010 | Brooklyn's Finest | Lt. Bill Hobarts | |
| 2010 | Meek's Cutoff | Solomon Tetherow | |
| 2010 | Knucklehead | Vic Sullivan | |
| 2012 | The Girl | Tommy | |
| 2012 | Abigail Harm | The Visitor / Narrator | |
| 2014 | The November Man | Perry Weinstein | |
| 2016 | American Honey | Backseat Cowboy | |
| 2017 | The Scent of Rain and Lightning | Senior | |
| 2017 | Megan Leavey | Jim | |
| 2018 | Boarding School | Dr. Sherman | |
| 2018 | An Actor Prepares | Wisdom | |
| 2018 | Halloween | Frank Hawkins | |
| 2019 | Hammer | Stephen Davis | |
| 2020 | Minari | Paul | |
| 2021 | The Forever Purge |
Television
Voice work
Audio books
| Title | Author | Year |
| If It Bleeds | Stephen King | 2020 |
| Tales of Ordinary Madness | Charles Bukowski | 2017 |
| Call Down The Hawk | Maggie Stiefvater | 2019 |
| The Outsider | Stephen King | 2018 |
| Robicheaux | James Lee Burke | 2018 |
| The Mist | Stephen King | 2017 |
| Killers of the Flower Moon | David Grann | 2017 |
| End of Watch | Stephen King | 2016 |
| The Raven King | Maggie Stiefvater | 2016 |
| House of the Rising Sun | James Lee Burke | 2015 |
| Finders Keepers | Stephen King | 2015 |
| Blue Lily, Lily Blue | Maggie Stiefvater | 2014 |
| Mr. Mercedes | Stephen King | 2014 |
| Doctor Sleep | Stephen King | 2013 |
| The Dream Thieves | Maggie Stiefvater | 2013 |
| The Son | Philipp Meyer | 2013 |
| My Cross to Bear | Gregg Allman | 2012 |
| The Raven Boys | Maggie Stiefvater | 2012 |
| Creole Belle | James Lee Burke | 2012 |
| Deliverance | James Dickey | 2011 |
| Feast Day of Fools | James Lee Burke | 2011 |
| The Glass Rainbow | James Lee Burke | 2010 |
| Alas, Babylon | Pat Frank | 2010 |
| Light in August | William Faulkner | 2010 |
| Jesus' Son | Denis Johnson | 2009 |
| Swan Peak | James Lee Burke | 2008 |
| On the Road | Jack Kerouac | 2007 |
| The Tin Roof Blowdown | James Lee Burke | 2007 |
| The Assault on Reason | Al Gore | 2007 |
| Annie Proulx | 2008 | |
| Tree of Smoke | Denis Johnson | 2007 |
| Last Car to Elysian Fields | James Lee Burke | 2007 |
| Thirteen Moons | Charles Frazier | 2006 |
| Pegasus Descending | James Lee Burke | 2006 |
| Crusader's Cross | James Lee Burke | 2006 |
| Jolie Blon's Bounce | James Lee Burke | 2006 |
| The Thomas Berryman Number | James Patterson | 2006 |
| To Have and Have Not | Ernest Hemingway | 2006 |
| A Dave Robicheaux Audio Collection | James Lee Burke | 2006 |
| When Zachary Beaver Came to Town | Kimberly Willis Holt | 2006 |
| Cosmopolis | Don DeLillo | 2005 |
| In the Moon of Red Ponies | James Lee Burke | 2004 |
| Cimarron Rose | James Lee Burke | 2004 |
| White Doves at Morning | James Lee Burke | 2003 |
| Bitterroot | James Lee Burke | 2001 |
| Cadillac Jukebox | James Lee Burke | 2001 |
| Purple Cane Road | James Lee Burke | 2000 |
| Boone's Lick | Larry McMurtry | 2000 |
| Burning Angel | James Lee Burke | 1999 |
| Heaven's Prisoners | James Lee Burke | 1999 |
| Heartwood | James Lee Burke | 1999 |
| Primal Fear | William Diehl | 1999 |
| Dixie City Jam | James Lee Burke | 1999 |
| A Stained White Radiance | James Lee Burke | 1998 |
| Sunset Limited | James Lee Burke | 1998 |
| The Sea-Wolf | Jack London | 1997 |
| Dead Man's Walk | Larry McMurtry | 1996 |
| Dirty White Boys | Stephen Hunter | 1995 |
| The Water Is Wide | Pat Conroy | 1995 |
| The Fermata | Nicholson Baker | 1995 |
| Gump and Co. | Winston Groom | 1995 |
| Gone South | Robert R. McCammon | 1994 |
| Lila – An Inquiry into Morals | Robert M. Pirsig | 1991 |
| The Lost Get-Back Boogie | James Lee Burke | 1986 |