Timothy Omundson
Timothy Omundson is an actor, born 1969.
Timothy Omundson spent the 1990s in the genre trenches, which turned out to be excellent training. He was a doctor on seaQuest DSV, a psychic in Starship Troopers, a face in Dark Skies, and then Eli on Xena: Warrior Princess, a role that asked him to play a prophet inside a show that changed tone every week. Judging Amy gave him steadier employment as Sean Potter from 1999.
Psych is what he will be remembered for. As Carlton Lassiter he played a humourless police detective inside a comedy, and the performance works because he never signals that he knows it is one. Everybody else on that show is being funny at him. Omundson's job is to be immovable, and he is, across the whole run and the three follow-up films that came after it.
Galavant proved he had another gear. Cast as King Richard in an ABC musical comedy, he sang, mugged and quietly stole the series from its title character, committing to every ridiculous note. Later work includes Cain on Supernatural, which is not among the credits listed here, plus Jericho, Woody Woodpecker and Paradise. He is one of those actors whose presence makes a show feel more solid than it has any right to.
Movies (9)
TV (12)
Where to start with Timothy Omundson
Start with Psych, obviously, but start early and let Lassiter accumulate. The character is a joke on paper and Omundson plays him with real wounded pride, which is the only reason the reunion films work: Psych: The Movie and Psych 2: Lassie Come Home land because years of that stubbornness came first.
Galavant is the biggest surprise in the filmography and the thing to watch next, a musical comedy where he sings and is plainly having the time of his life. Among the older work, Xena: Warrior Princess holds his most earnest performance and Judging Amy his most conventional. Starship Troopers is a small early part and a fun one to spot, while Jericho is the place to see him play someone genuinely hard.