Age: 71
male
Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor who mainly plays roles of antagonists. He first rose to prominence for portraying the titular role in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and is best known for starring as Merle Dixon in the AMC series The Walking Dead (2010–2013) and as Yondu Udonta in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), followed by its sequels Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). He is a recurring collaborator of Guardians of the Galaxy director and co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, appearing in all of his films to date, including Slither (2006), Super (2010), and The Suicide Squad (2021). Rooker's other notable roles include Chick Gandil in Eight Men Out (1988), Frank Bailey in Mississippi Burning (1988), Terry Cruger in Sea of Love (1989), Rowdy Burns in Days of Thunder (1990), Bill Broussard in JFK (1991), Hal Tucker in Cliffhanger (1993), Sherman McMaster in Tombstone (1993), Jared Svenning in Mallrats (1995), Detective Edward Kennesaw in Deceiver (1997), Detective Howard Cheney in The Bone Collector (1999), Detective Jake Riley in Replicant (2001), and Buddy in F9 (2021).
Michael Rooker
Brian Durlin
for Brian Durlin in Fan-casting The DCU
Suggested by glennrhee
A fan casting project born from a lifelong love of DC’s most iconic interpretations across animation, film, and television. This project embraces beloved canon casting from the expanding DCU under James Gunn, while hoping Matt Reeves’ The Batman continuity remains an Elseworlds project — allowing him to continue his acclaimed vision for Gotham and its villains, while leaving room to cast a Bat-Family from scratch within the DCU. Rooted in appreciation for The Dark Knight Trilogy, Justice League / Justice League Unlimited, DCAMU hits (under the Red Hood, Flashpoint Paradox, apokolips war, Teen Titans, Young jystice, The Penguin TV series and the list goes on. this project is not about reinventing DC — but honoring what works and building respectfully and thoughtfully around it and through the rest of the unfolding DCU roadmap.
