William Hill

William Hill is the father Randall Pearson has spent his whole life wondering about, found at last living alone and modestly. He's soft-spoken, a recovering addict with a poet's eye and a jazz record always turning, careful with his words and wary of the reunion he clearly never expected to get.

Ron Cephas Jones plays him without a trace of self-pity, so his warmth feels earned rather than sentimental. The writing gives William dignity instead of tragedy-as-costume — he's funny, cultured, plainly flawed — and Jones lets every glance carry decades of regret and gratitude at once.