Brian Thompson

American actor (born 1959)

Brian Earl Thompson (born August 28, 1959) is an American actor. His career began with a small role in the 1984 film The Terminator. He played the villainous "Night Slasher" in the 1986 film Cobra. His first named role was on Werewolf, a horror series that ran during Fox's inaugural broadcasting year of 1987–1988. Thompson has played several characters in the Star Trek franchise—the most notable being the Klingon Lieutenant Klag in which he informed Riker that "Gagh is always best when served live", the Alien Bounty Hunter on The X Files, and Eddie Fiori on Kindred: The Embraced. In 2014, he produced, wrote and starred in the B movie parody The Extendables.

Thompson was born in Ellensburg, Washington, and raised in Longview. He attended Central Washington University, where he studied business management, played football, and appeared in many school productions. He then moved to California and earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine. He initially trained and pursued a career in musical theater, performing at Riverside Civil Light Opera's production of "The King and I", Long Beach Civic Light Opera's "Bittersweet", and several other musicals. In 1982, he was a resident actor at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Thompson's athletic build and unique facial structure were key in the initial roles he was offered. He has stated that it has occasionally been a double edged sword when it comes to auditioning for roles, but it has provided him with consistent work. Thompson said, "If you're very physical in stature, you're gonna get hired for action movies. The star's always going to be chasing someone so they need an equal adversary. I'm never going to play a nebbish geek." He followed that up with roles on Moonlighting, Otherworld, Street Hawk and Knight Rider before landing the role in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle, Cobra (1986). Although the film was critically panned, it was a commercial success. The New York Times wrote of Thompson's portrayal, "the archvillain, a character that is a cross between a James Bond fantasy villain such as Jaws and a raging psychopath, delivers a scorching monologue – a feat of linguistic sophistication that Cobra would have a hard time matching." In 1993, Thompson landed another comedic role on the large ensemble series Key West which was filmed on location in the Florida Keys. The series lasted for 13 episodes. He played a "new age sheriff", which Thompson has stated was the favorite role of his career. The following year, Thompson began his tenure on The X Files and followed that with roles in the science fiction fantasy series Seven Days, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. Between these, Thompson made dozens of appearances in other series and films. Thompson then returned to the big screen as lead antagonist Shao Kahn in the film adaptation of Mortal Kombat Annihilation. The New York Times called it "colossal compendium of logic defying martial arts, noisy, hyperactive special effects " In 2014, Thompson released The Extendables, a film he produced, wrote, and starred in. A parody of movies like The Expendables, Thompson stated that it contained true to life instances from his own career. It was released via iTunes. In 2017 Thompson work in thriller indie film Trafficked with Ashley Judd, and in 2019 star in horror film Hoax alongside Adrienne Barbeau; in 2022 appeared in historical thriller film The Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel Washington.

Year Title Role Notes 1984 Hardcastle and McCormick Police Officer Episode: "Ties My Father Sold Me" 1985 Knight Rider Kurt Episode: "Sky Knight" 1988 Favorite Son Rolf Petersen 3 episodes Werewolf Nicholas Remy 6 episodes 1989 Star Trek: The Next Generation Klingon Officer Klag Episode: "A Matter of Honor" 1990 Alien Nation Peter Rabbit Episode: "Rebirth" 1993 Key West Sheriff Cody Jeremiah Jefferson 13 episodes Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Inglatu Episode: "Rules of Acquisition" 1995 2000 The X Files Alien Bounty Hunter 9 episodes 1995 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Goth the Barbarian Episode: "Siege at Naxos" 1996 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Toman'torax Episode: "To the Death" Kindred: The Embraced Eddie Fiori (leader of the Brujah vampire clan) 6 episodes 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Luke Episodes: "Welcome to the Hellmouth", "The Harvest" 1998 NYPD Blue Todd Episode: "Czech Bouncer" Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Judge Episodes: "Surprise", "Innocence" 2000 Charmed Horseman of War Episode: "Apocalypse, Not" Jason and the Argonauts Hercules Miniseries 2002 Birds of Prey The Crawler Episode: "Split" 2003 Charmed Titan Cronos Episode: "Oh My Goddess (Part 1 & 2)" 2004 NCIS Master Chief Vince Nutter Episode: "The Truth Is Out There" 2005 Star Trek: Enterprise Romulan Admiral Valdore 3 episodes 2009 Chuck Cliff Arculin / Cliff Siljak Episode: "Chuck Versus the Suburbs" 2012 Californication Mr. Scary Episode: "At the Movies" Spirit of a Denture Captain Jasper Crow Short film 2014 Hawaii Five 0 Internal Affairs Detective Nicholas Cruz Episode: "Hana Lokomaika'i" 2017 The Orville Drogen Episode: "Into the Fold" 2018 19 9 1 1 Captain Vincent Gerrard 2 episodes 2021 NCIS: Los Angeles CIA Officer Steven Erdnase Episode: "Through the Looking Glass"