Bobby Cannavale’s 10 Best Movies And TV Shows

The best Bobby Cannavale movies and TV shows feature a diverse mix of gangster films, police procedurals, and even superhero movies. Cannavale started his career acting in the theater with no prior training and quickly built his career to an impressive level, including a role in the 1999 film The Bone Collector, starring Denzel Washington. This led to an early-career starring role in the NBC procedural series Third Watch, which ran from 1999 to 2001. This led to a variety of roles for the actor on TV and the big screen.

Cannavale earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his guest role in Will & Grace, which led to an impressive television run over the next two decades. He had supporting roles in Vinyl, Mr. Robot, and Homecoming and lead roles in Nine Perfect Strangers and The Watcher. He also had some prominent TV roles over the years, including roles in The Station Agent, Blue Jasmine, Blonde, and The Other Guys. However, Cannavale’s most famous role came in the MCU, where he stars as Jim Paxton in the Ant-Man movies.

10

The Watcher (2022)

Dean Brannock

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The Watcher

TV-MA

Drama

Mystery

Horror

8.0/10

Release Date

October 13, 2022

Network

Netflix

Directors

Jennifer Lynch, Ryan Murphy

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Bobby Cannavale In The 'An Evening with EZRA:' A Storytelling and Screening Event

    Bobby Cannavale

    Dean Brannock

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    Henry Hunter Hall

    Dakota

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Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts took on the lead roles in the 2022 mystery horror thriller The Watcher. In this series, they play Dean and Nora, a couple who find the house of their dreams in New Jersey. However, after moving in, their dream house becomes a nightmare. A mysterious stalker begins sending them creepy letters, calling themselves The Watcher, and making threats to them. Soon, they realize that whoever is sending the letters wants them out of the house and might be willing to do anything to achieve this.

Naomi Watts collage with 657 Boulevard home in Netflix's The Watcher

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Based on a 2018 New York Magazine article, which chronicled the true story of a couple receiving threatening letters after moving into their home in 2014 that didn’t stop until they moved out five years later, the miniseries refocused things to include a separate true story of a mass murderer named John List from 1971. The Ryan Murphy-produced series earned mixed reviews, with a 56% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the cast.

9

Vinyl (2016)

Richie Finestra

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Vinyl

Drama

Release Date

2016 – 2016-00-00

Network

HBO Max

Directors

Martin Scorsese

Writers

Martin Scorsese

Cast

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    Bobby Cannavale

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    Olivia Wilde

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    James Jagger

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Vinyl is a period drama that follows a struggling record producer in 1970s-era New York City who wants to resurrect his ailing record label, American Century. Bobby Cannavale stars as the producer, Richie Finestra, in the series that was produced by Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Rich Cohen, and Terence Winter. The series, airing on HBO, was originally planned for two seasons, but HBO reversed its renewal decision and canceled it after just one season.

The positive reviews praised the soundtrack, period detail, and acting, with Bobby Cannavale receiving specific acclaim for his performance.

Despite its cancellation and HBO’s mishandling of the series, critics gave Vinyl mostly positive reviews, with a 76% “fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score. The positive reviews praised the soundtrack, period detail, and acting, with Bobby Cannavale receiving specific acclaim for his performance. The series also earned two Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) and the other for Main Title Design.

8

Third Watch (1999-2001)

Roberto Caffey

Third Watch - POSTER

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Third Watch

TV-14

Crime

Drama

Release Date

1999 – 2005-00-00

Cast

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    Skipp Sudduth

    Tyrone Davis Jr.

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    Molly Price

    Faith Yokas

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    Anthony Ruivivar

    Carlos Nieto

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    Skipp Sudduth

    John Sullivan

Creator(s)

John Wells, Edward Allen Bernero

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Bobby Cannavale’s breakout role was in Third Watch, which aired on NBC from 1999 until 2005. Running six seasons and 132 episodes, the series was a police procedural that follows police officers, firefighters, and paramedics in New York City. The name of the series is based on the shifts, specifically the third shift, which lasts from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. every day. Bobby Cannavale stars as FDNY Paramedic Roberto “Bobby” Caffey, but he left the series after only two seasons.

The series received a lot of praise for its portrayal of these men and women after 9/11, but by then, Cannavale had already left the series. His character was killed off the series after he asked to be let out of his contract, feeling that his character wasn’t receiving development or important storylines, so he could seek out other roles. “After the second season, there really wasn’t much left for me to do,” Cannavale said (via Variety​​​​​​). “I can’t just be pronouncing people dead and trying to revive them.”

7

Ant-Man (2015)

Jim Paxton

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Ant-Man

PG-13

Science Fiction

Action

Adventure

Superhero

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7/10

11

7.7/10

Release Date

July 17, 2015

Runtime

117 minutes

Director

Peyton Reed

Writers

Adam McKay, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Paul Rudd

Producers

Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Michael Grillo, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso

Cast

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    Paul Rudd

    Scott Lang / Ant-Man

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    Michael Douglas

    Dr. Hank Pym

Sequel(s)

Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania

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Ant-Man changed the MCU format by creating a film that blended elements of a heist movie and an action comedy. In the film, Scott Lang is a father who has just been released from prison and must find a way to make a living while reconnecting with his daughter in a world that doesn’t offer jobs for ex-convicts, not even in fast food. As a result, he takes another heist gig and ends up with the Ant-Man costume, which he dons to become a superhero. Bobby Cannavale stars as Jim Paxton, Scott’s ex-wife’s new husband.

Collage of characters from the Ant-Man movies.

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In the first movie, Jim is a police officer who remains antagonistic toward Scott but seems to want the best for his stepdaughter. In the second film, Jim is close friends with Scott and supports him. However, Cannavale has a much bigger role in the first film, where he plays a key part in the big heist that Scott must pull off from the police department’s perspective, which is unaware of what is happening. While considered low-key MCU movies, the Ant-Man franchise provides fun entertainment, and Cannavale is a big part of that.

6

Nurse Jackie (2012-2013)

Dr. Mike Cruz

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Nurse Jackie

Comedy

Drama

Release Date

2009 – 2015-00-00

Network

Showtime

Showrunner

Liz Brixius

Directors

Michael Lehmann

Writers

Liz Brixius

Cast

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    Merritt Wever

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    Edie Falco

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    Edie Falco

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After The Sopranos ended, Edie Falco quickly landed a new role, this time on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie​​. In this series, Falco stars as Jackie Peyton, an emergency department nurse at a hospital who struggles with drug addiction. The series was as much about her addiction as it was anything else, and this affected her relationships with other characters in the series. This includes Bobby Cannavale’s character, Mike Cruz, who appeared in the show’s fifth and sixth seasons.

Mike is the chief administrator of All Saints Hospital after Quantum Bay acquired it. His story connects with that of Jackie. Mike’s son Charlie battles drug addiction as well, and he works hard to help him attend his rehab sessions, where he becomes friends with Jackie. However, Mike becomes antagonistic to Jackie and disrupts her life more than ever until a tragedy finally brings them together. Cannavale earned a SAG nomination as part of the Nurse Jackie ensemble cast.

5

The Irishman (2019)

Skinny Razor

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The Irishman

R

Biography

Drama

Crime

ScreenRant logo

9/10

10

7.8/10

Release Date

November 27, 2019

Runtime

210 minutes

Director

Martin Scorsese

Writers

Steven Zaillian

Cast

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    Bobby Cannavale

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One of the best movies featuring Bobby Cannavale was released on Netflix, which was also a Martin Scorsese film, The Irishman​​​. After a long list of gangster movies, including the seminal Goodfellas, Scorsese told the story here of the 1950s organized crime mobsters and their dealings with union organizer and Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Bobby Cannavale stars as Skinny Razor, a local Philadelphia Italian-American gangster.

Irishman De Niro Newspaper Hoffa

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It is Skinny Razor who starts the entire movie. Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a union delivery driver, steals some of his shipments and sells them to Skinny Razor but refuses to implicate the man, which leads Sheeran to take on jobs working for local crime bosses. The movie spans 20 years, and Cannavale’s role is small, but as the catalyst for getting Sheeran into the mafia’s good graces, he becomes an important character.

4

Mr. Robot (2018-2019)

Otto Irving

Mr Robot TV Poster

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Mr. Robot

Drama

Crime

ScreenRant logo

8/10

8.0/10

Release Date

2015 – 2019-00-00

Network

USA

Showrunner

Sam Esmail

Directors

Sam Esmail

Writers

Sam Esmail

Cast

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    Self – Mr. Robot

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    Portia Doubleday

    Self – Tyrell Wellick

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Bobby Cannavale joined the cast of Mr. Robot in the show’s third season. The series follows the life of Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), a vigilante hacker known as Mr. Robot. However, he has dissociative identity disorder and doesn’t know he is Mr. Robot for most of the series, speaking to his other identity, played in the series by Christian Slater. As the four seasons wore on, Elliot began to lose himself more and more as he realized he was responsible for the acts of cyber-terrorism and began his eventual downfall.

Cannavale plays Otto Irving, a car salesman who works as a fixer for the Dark Army, the organization led by Mr. Robot, in an attempt to overthrow American capitalist society. He is tasked with watching Tyrell, who is sent into hiding and has many dark secrets of his own that he is hiding from everyone around him. The Critics’ Choice Television Awards nominated Cannavale for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

3

Homecoming (2018-2020)

Colin Belfast

Homecoming

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Homecoming

TV-MA

Thriller

Drama

Mystery

Release Date

2018 – 2020-00-00

Cast

See All

  • Headshot Of Stephan James

    Stephan James

    Walter Cruz

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    Bobby Cannavale

    Colin Belfast

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    Hong Chau

    Audrey Temple

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Alex Karpovsky

    Craig

Creator(s)

Micah Bloomberg, Eli Horowitz, Sam Esmail

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Homecoming is a thriller series on Prime Video based on a podcast of the same name. The series’ first season was created and directed by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail and stars Julia Roberts as a caseworker named Heidi Bergman at a secret government facility. This also gave Esmail a chance to reunite with Bobby Cannavale, who also appeared on Mr. Robot​​​​. In Homecoming, Cannavale plays Colin Belfast, Heidi’s supervisor at the government facility.

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The first season follows Heidi as she works as a social worker at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center, a live-in facility run by the Geist Group, which helps soldiers transition back into civilian life. The show has Cannavale’s Colin pushing Heidi into collecting as much data as she can, and over time, she realizes there is more to this facility than just helping soldiers. Neither Cannavale nor Roberts returns for season 2, but the first season earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series.

2

Will & Grace (2004-2006, 2018)

Vince D’Angelo

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Will & Grace

TV-14

Comedy

Release Date

2017 – 2019

Network

NBC

Directors

James Burrows

Writers

Adam Barr, Jordan Reddout

Cast

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    Blythe Danner

    Dr. Superstein

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Barry Bostwick

    Jerry Wise

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    Blythe Danner

    Marilyn Truman

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    Brad Grunberg

    Ralph

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Bobby Cannavale joined the Will & Grace cast in the sixth season and had a recurring role through season 9. Will & Grace tells the story of two best friends, a gay lawyer named Will (Eric McCormack) and a straight interior designer (Debra Messing), and their lives and relationships. Cannavale plays Vince D’Angelo, a police officer who began dating Will after meeting him following giving Karen a ticket for speeding. This was a hugely important character, one of Will’s first long-term relationships on the show.

Vince was important on the show, and his relationship with Will was a very important one that didn’t have the happy ending that some fans might have hoped for. It was also a big deal for Cannavale, who received his first-ever Primetime Emmy win for his performance, taking home the award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for the show’s seventh season.

1

Boardwalk Empire (2012)

Gyp Rosetti

Boardwalk Empire Poster

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Boardwalk Empire

Crime

Drama

8.0/10

Release Date

2010 – 2014-00-00

Showrunner

Terence Winter

Directors

Timothy Van Patten, Allen Coulter

Writers

Terence Winter, Nelson Johnson

Cast

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    Kelly Macdonald

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The TV series that brought Bobby Cannavale to Martin Scorsese’s attention was his run on Boardwalk Empire. In the HBO series, Cannavale took on the role of Gyp Rosetti, a New York City gangster who works for Joe Masseria (Ivo Nandi). He is one of the characters in the series who is prone to extreme violence, and he becomes the main villain in the third season of Boardwalk Empire. His first scene saw him beating a man to death for an off-handed insult.

He quickly becomes Nucky’s (Steve Buscemi) nemesis when Nucky refuses to sell bootlegged liquor to him, so he takes over a small town and blocks Nucky’s shipments from arriving in Atlantic City. This leads to a bloody and violent war between the two gangsters. It was a huge role for Bobby Cannavale, who won his second Primetime Emmy Award, this time for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

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