Why Peacemaker's Dad Looks So Familiar
Minor spoilers ahead for the HBO Max series "Peacemaker"
In the James Gunn-created series "Peacemaker," there is one character whose evilness and verbal toxicity makes him stand above the rest, and that's none other than Peacemaker's father, Auggie Smith, aka the White Dragon. As mentioned in "The Suicide Squad," DCEU fans finally get to see Smith in all his malevolent glory throughout much of the show's premiere season.
At the start of "Peacemaker," viewers are led to believe that Smith will be taking a backseat role to his son Christopher and will serve simply as emotional tension for him. But the character's ultimate purpose — both to the series as a whole and Peacemaker, himself — is actually much, much, larger in the grand scheme of things. After Smith is revealed to be the infamous White Dragon villain from DC Comics lore (via DC Database Fandom), viewers are shown a completely different side of him, one that ends up leading a group of white supremacists and eventually sets out to murder his son.
In order to accurately portray Smith's White Dragon, Gunn made sure to bring in an actor that was not only talented on-screen but also extremely skilled at playing a great bad guy. And that's exactly what he got in longtime Hollywood star Robert Patrick.
Patrick played the T-1000 in Terminator 2
If there is any definitive proof that Robert Patrick can play an awesome bad guy in "Peacemaker," then his performance in James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" is just that. Considered by many to be his most famous role, Patrick portrays the main antagonist opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. More specifically, he played the shapeshifting T-1000 machine sent from the future to murder Sarah (Hamilton) and John Connor (Edward Furlong).
Patrick once described how he was so believable as Cameron's unstoppable killer that he used to elicit dramatic reactions from people he'd pass on the street. "'T2' had just come out, and I was walking the streets of Chicago, and people were just freaking out," the actor told The Guardian in 2017. "Businessmen! And I'm like, 'S***, it's just me.' But that's the power of that role."
Throughout "T2," Patrick's character is a ruthless killer who is impossible to stop or reason with. It's that same portrayal of evil tenacity, coupled with Patrick's vast experience in high-profile movies and television, that makes him so good in "Peacemaker." Here are a few other things you may recognize him from.
Patrick replaced David Duchovny on The X-Files
Following the success of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," Robert Patrick's Hollywood career ultimately skyrocketed. He went on to make big waves in both film and television before eventually landing one of his most talked-about parts: FBI Special Agent John Doggett on "The X-Files."
At the time, "The X-Files" was one of the most popular shows on the planet and series star David Duchovny was reportedly on his way out due to syndication revenue issues, which later resulted in a lawsuit and settlement out of court (via International Business Times). Patrick had been brought on to help ease viewers into the eventual departure of Duchovny's Fox Mulder character. Unfortunately, his arrival wasn't received too well at first.
"There was so much hesitation by the fanbase," Patrick told MovieWeb in 2020. "I think we won them over, though. I go to these fan conventions and I see people there, you know, they love John Doggett. You know, once they realized he wasn't really a threat, he was there basically to protect Gillian [Anderson's] character, Scully. And Agent Reyes [Annabeth Gish] was my love interest. I was like, 'We're just trying to keep the show going for you, folks.'"
He got under Tony Soprano's skin in The Sopranos
Before joining "The X-Files," Robert Patrick was part of another super popular series that would later go down in television infamy. It's a role of Patrick's that often gets forgotten — unless you're a fan of HBO's "The Sopranos." David Scatino, the sporting goods store owner and degenerate gambling addict from Season 2, serves as a stark contrast to Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his mobster cohorts. While the two "Sopranos" characters were said to have grown up together in northern New Jersey, Patrick's Scatino is much more laid back and soft-spoken than his old crime boss buddy — and the same can be said about Patrick's portrayal when compared to most of his other roles.
"I met David Chase for a film a couple of years prior to him coming up with the idea, or at least selling the idea, of 'The Sopranos'," Patrick recalled to MovieWeb in 2020. "Then he sent me the script for 'The Happy Wanderer' and said, 'I see you in this role. It's against type, you'll never be cast this way, but I think it's a brilliant idea.' [...] I went, 'Wow. This is just perfect timing. Because I don't feel much like a villain nor like a fighter right now.'" Patrick would go on to play a wide array of characters and personalities in the years that followed "The Sopranos," including a reoccurring spot on yet another hit TV show.
Patrick was a series regular on True Blood
Seasons 5, 6, and 7 of HBO's popular "True Blood" series saw Robert Patrick featured as a regular, with him portraying werewolf Packmaster Jackson Herveaux, father of Joe Manganiello's Alcide Herveaux. Patrick's 14-episode arc as Jackson not only thrust the actor into the television mainstream yet again but also helped bring more color to Manganiello's Alcide.
"I was brought in to basically give more of a storyline to [Alcide] and give him some more stuff to do," Patrick told True-Blood.net in 2014. "They said, 'We really want to work on this father-son relationship. And Joe's such a sweet guy, I had a lot of fun working with him."
Patrick's very first appearance on the HBO show came during the flashback episode "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" in Season 5. He was initially signed on to be a guest star for just three episodes before being given a more prominent role in Season 6 (via The Hollywood Reporter). "I had a wonderful time on 'True Blood,'" Patrick said to True-Blood.net.
Patrick has even more on-screen credits under his belt
Throughout his career, Robert Patrick has never been one to shy away from smaller roles or cameos. The screen veteran has sneakily appeared in over 160 projects, including "Die Hard 2," "Last Action Hero," "Fire in the Sky," "Striptease," "Cop Land," "The Faculty," and even "The Marine" alongside his "Peacemaker" co-star John Cena.
Patrick's appearances have been stretched across many different genres and projects, especially in recent years. He's had one-episode runs on "NCIS," "Chuck," "Community," "Lost," and "The Walking Dead," while also being featured regularly on shows like HBO's "Perry Mason" series in 2020 and Amazon's "Goliath" jut last year. Patrick starred in the 2013 fantasy adventure film "Bridge to Terabithia" as the father of Josh Hutcherson's character, and then the 2013 biopic "Lovelace" about adult film star Linda Lovelace, played by Amanda Seyfried. Heck, he even got a voice role as Coach Red O'Brien in the "Madden NFL 21" video game (via IMDb). With his latest appearance in HBO Max's "Peacemaker," it seems that Patrick has added yet another feather to his acting cap as a DC supervillain.