What To Know
- Paul Ben-Victor plays the alien leader Antaan in HBO’s Lanterns, tasking John Stewart with finding a hidden Manhunter.
- Ben-Victor is a veteran character actor known for roles as authority figures.
In Episode 2 of HBO’s Lanterns, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) is taken by a group of seemingly hostile aliens led by a being named Antaan, played by Paul Ben-Victor. They are investigating entities called Manhunters and their possible presence on Earth. Antaan believes a surviving Manhunter is hiding in Rushville, Nebraska, which might result in a threat to humanity.
Because Antaan and his people can’t enter the town without being detected, thanks to the efforts of William Macon (Garret Dillahunt) and his mysterious “generous benefactor,” Antaan recruits John to identify the Manhunter, giving him 48 hours before the aliens take matters into their own hands and potentially destroy a huge part of Nebraska.
If Antaan looks familiar, that’s because the man behind the mysterious alien has been a familiar face on television and in movies for decades. Paul Ben-Victor has built a lengthy career as a character actor, often playing cops, criminals, and other tough-talking authority figures. So, where have you seen him before?
Prior to his work on Lanterns, Ben-Victor appeared on another HBO show that became a pop culture phenomenon: The Wire.
HBO / Courtesy: Everett Collection
On The Wire, Paul Ben-Victor played Spiros “Vondas” Vondopoulos, a high-ranking member of The Greek’s (Bill Raymond) criminal organization. Introduced in Season 2, Vondas serves as The Greek’s right-hand man and a key intermediary in drug and smuggling operations.
Vondas is perhaps best remembered for his conversation with Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer) in Season 2 Episode 8, when Sobotka wants to pull away from The Greek’s organization, Vondas responds with a steel-mill analogy: “They used to make steel there, no? Smoke from the stacks. But inside…” His point is clear: As legitimate industries die, criminal enterprises thrive in their place. Frank cannot simply pretend that the criminal foundation of his current operation does not exist.
But for viewers who were not lucky enough to catch The Wire when it was one, Ben-Victor is also known for his role as talent agent Alan Gray in Entourage, in which he played Ari Gold’s (Jeremy Piven) rival. He was also unrecognizable as Moe Howard in the 2000 film The Three Stooges.
Aside from Lanterns, Ben-Victor was recently seen as disbarred attorney Sly Funaro Sr. in The Lincoln Lawyer and Phil Russo in Power Book III: Raising Kanan.
Lanterns, Sunday, 9/8c, HBO Max
