Elias "Eli" Thompson

Eli Thompson is sheriff of Atlantic County, and the perpetually junior partner to his older brother Nucky. He wears the badge, throws his weight around the boardwalk, and keeps a house full of children — but every room he enters, he's the second Thompson, and it shows in the set of his jaw.

Shea Whigham plays resentment as something almost domestic — a man who loves his brother and hates that love's terms. The show never lets Eli be a simple henchman; he's got pride, a family to feed, and a badge that means something to him even as it means less than Nucky's word. Whigham makes that friction visible without a word of complaint.