Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

Nucky Thompson is the treasurer of Atlantic County and the man who actually runs Atlantic City, greasing every wheel of politics, liquor, and vice with a smile and a well-tailored suit. Prohibition has just begun, and he's positioned himself as the broker between gangsters, politicians, and the public he claims to serve. He's charming, calculating, and never quite honest about which side he's on.

Buscemi is an unlikely leading man for a crime kingpin, and that's precisely the point — his angularity and nervous energy make Nucky's confidence feel performed rather than innate, a man constantly selling himself. The writing keeps him balanced between civic showman and ruthless operator, and Buscemi never tips the scale, letting you watch him decide, moment to moment, who to be.