Kevin Chapman

Boston-born character actor Kevin Chapman found a long career playing hard-bitten characters and rough-hewn everymen, most on the wrong end of society. A familiar figure on television dramas, his most high-profile film role was in Clint Eastwood's film "Mystic River," set in the same hardscrabble working-class neighborhoods in which he grew up.

Among his other signature roles were mob boss Freddie Cork in Blake Masters' crime saga "Brotherhood" (Showtime 2006-08) and corrupt cop Lionel Fusco on Jonathan Nolan and J.J. Abrams' crime thriller "Person of Interest" (CBS 2011-16). Chapman's first role was in director Ted Demme's Denis Leary-starring film "Monument Avenue" (1998); his large build and gruff Boston accent caught had Demme's attention when he met Chapman, who at the time was working for the City of Boston's Film Commission.

Already a middle-aged man by that point, Chapman credited Leary and Demme for his acting career; he went on to appear in seven episodes of Leary's firefighter drama-comedy "Rescue Me" (FX 2004-2011) a decade later. After his film debut, Chapman took small roles in several high-profile movies, many of them crime thrillers. Among them were the cult favorite "Boondock Saints" (1999), Demme's thriller "Blow" (2001), and the divisive "21 Grams" (2003).

He also appeared in an uncredited role in the John Irving adaptation "The Cider House Rules" (1999) and in the cult Blaxploitation spoof "Black Dynamite" (2009). However, television was the medium in which he flourished. Early guest roles on various hour-long dramas soon gave way to his meatier recurring roles in "Brotherhood" and "Rescue Me."

The commercially-successful procedural series "Person of Interest" was the first show on which Chapman gained a regular supporting role as the corrupt but relatable Detective Lionel Fusco.