Roy Phillips

Roy Phillips turns up in Nucky Thompson's life as an easygoing chemical salesman, the kind of stranger who buys a round and tells a good story. He's friendly, curious, a little wistful about the old days, and seems content to talk rather than hustle — an amiable presence in a world full of sharper men.

Ron Livingston plays him with such unforced warmth that his scenes with Steve Buscemi feel like a rare moment of ease in the show's final stretch — two tired men swapping memories over drinks. That relaxed, chatty surface is exactly what makes Phillips so unsettling to watch closely; the show trusts Livingston's charm to do the disguising.