In the ’50s Burl Ives was a formidable heavyweight in more ways than one — a major go-to when the studios needed a fat, older, charismatic presence…someone who could deliver real-deal feelings, planted authority and no-bullshit attitudes. East of Eden, The Big Country, Cat on a Hit Tin Roof, Desire Under the Elms, Wind Across the Everglades, Our Man in Havana, etc.
Who, if anyone, is the reigning fat formidable of 2025? Brendan Gleeson?