Derek de Lint had a small role as Jan Clopatz, the Hungarian cellist who Rebecca brought over to the guys’ apartment to rub it in Peter’s face that she was going on a date with him. He got to humorously react to Selleck saying that Mary “doodled,” which is yet another reference to the child soiling her diaper. Ha! It’s funny because babies are always doing that, get it? Anyway, Derek de Lint had just that one scene in the movie but it was a memorable one.
That’s probably because he also happens to be an acclaimed Dutch character actor who’s tackled heavy subject matter such as WWII in Soldier of Orange (1977) and Black Book (2006), as well as held his own in scenes with Daniel Day-Lewis in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). He also almost snagged the role of Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-99), but was edged out by Avery Brooks, which is a shame, because Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is generally considered to be the fourth-best version of that show.
Like Derek de Lint, Philip Bosco is another celebrated character actor—one of those guys you recognize from everything the minute he hits the screen. He played Det. Sgt. Melkowitz, the cop who interrogated the guys over the wacky heroin mix-up, which they got out of by hiding the drugs in the diaper the baby was wearing—seriously. But this was far from Bosco’s most memorable role. In fact, Bosco is actually an accomplished stage actor and opera singer, having won a 1989 Tony Award for his performance in Lend Me a Tenor.
As for the big screen, Bosco famously played Curly, the contractor who never met a deadline he wouldn’t promise to make in another crazy popular ’80s classic, The Money Pit (1986). He also had roles in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), The First Wives Club (1996), and Shaft (2000), where he sported his own legendary Hollywood mustache. It was a look he developed after Three Men and a Baby, but he definitely rocked it for years. Thin, and shaved down to just barely hug his upper lip, Bosco’s nose rug could somehow lend him either an affable, fatherly characteristic (My Best Friend’s Wedding) or an evil, dastardly menace (Shaft).
Another small but noteworthy role worth was the cab driver who races the guys to the airport as they attempt to prevent Sylvia from taking Mary back to London. The driver was played by Mario Joyner in his acting debut, and he did a great job making the guys feel even more guilty about letting Mary go back with her mom, who basically dropped her off like a FEDEX package. We did mention this is a weirdly dark family comedy, right?
Anyway, Joyner’s Hollywood career failed to launch after that. He was a stand-up comic back then, and he still is today, headlining at comedy clubs all over the country and performing regularly with Jerry Seinfeld, so his acting roles have mostly been bit parts in movies that had fellow comics as the driving force, such as Chris Rock’s Pootie Tang (2001) and Seinfeld’s Bee Movie (2007).
Credits: nickiswift
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