4. Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Cannavale)
Season three had one villain. If there is one way to devalue a modern television series, it is by sticking to a formula and assuming the audience can’t see the strings being pulled. Granted, there will always be over-arching themes but a one-season character often feels forced and, in the case of Gyp, unnecessary (he didn’t exist in reality). Despite this, Bobby Cannavale added a vicious spice to the mix, whereby Gyp was not only a loose cannon but mentally unhinged. His sordid sexual deviances and choice of victim (in one instance, an old man bit the dust when he showed surprise at something Gyp didn’t know) made him a fascinating role – and this was down to Cannavale’s expertise. We went on to see him again in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.
3. Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt)
Granted, he was part of the leading cast for two seasons but even in the later seasons his spirit haunted the stories. His short amount of time overall relegates him to the supporting cast. But Jimmy Darmody was the moral conscience of Nucky Thompson. He connected the personal truth of Nucky with his business aspirations. Yes, he would see Margaret’s children and attempt to raise them as his own, but it was Jimmy who he held a responsibility for. It is Jimmy who, we realise, was the outcome of Nucky’s first unforgivable sin. It is Jimmy’s son who takes Nucky out in those final moments. Michael Pitt’s cherubian gangster had an air of innocence trapped behind the broken shell of the man we meet in Season 1. Fighting in the Great War, he had seen horrors many haven’t – something only Richard Harrow could relate to. The incestuous relationship between Jimmy and his mother is deeply uncomfortable to watch but Pitt manages to play the role with aplomb. A fascinating, complex role that was effortlessly played – fans of the show only wish he didn’t leave us so soon. A far stretch from Michael Pitt’s role in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.
2. Richard Harrow (Jack Huston)
His half-face calling-card made his presence fearsome. But behind the mask was a sensitive, hurting soldier from the Great War. Spending two seasons working alongside Jimmy Darmody, he came into his own in Season 3 and 4. For the majority of each season he pined after a normal life – a wife; a child; a family. It seemed that, akin to Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III, the quotable phrase “as soon as I get out, they pull me back in” could become his motto. It seemed Richard Harrow could never leave the life of crime he was dragged into after the war but when he was carrying a sniper the show was electric. Jack Huston himself appeared in the West End in Strangers on a Train, an adaptation of Hitchcock’s seminal film.
1. A.R. Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg)
How could they drop the ball on this? Coming off The Coen Brothers A Serious Man, Stuhlbarg was nabbed quickly for the programme for the first season. The actor was going places and the incredibly intelligent role of A.R. Rothstein couldn’t be farther from the weak man in the Coen’s Oscar-nominee from 2009. His dead-pan wit and addiction to gambling was a sight to behold. Any moment on screen was taut with tension. He seemed to never get his hands dirty and a simple look could silence a room. Considering the adoration we held for A.R. Rothstein, it remains a shock that they failed to use him at all in the final season. Couldn’t they have opened season 5 with his death in a montage of moments between 1924 and 1931? Of course, A.R. Rothstein died in 1928 and was the victim of an assassination (what a missed opportunity) but the hole left in season five was felt – despite a minor plot involving his wife and Margaret Schroeder. His lack of closure in the final season only adds to the bad decisions made by producers but he remains an incredible actor and a huge coup for Boardwalk Empire.
Who were you favourite supporting characters in Boardwalk Empire?
Simon Columb
Originally published November 2, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
