Who is “That Guy”?

I found the term “that guy”, used as “He embarked on a career as a 'that guy',” in the following sentence of the article of the New Yorker (Feb. 7, 2011) titled “the Most Interesting Man in the World”:

In a recalls of a contentious exchange with Hoffman: “I jumped up and said, ‘Dustin, the reason you don’t like me is because I’m gonna make it and you’re not.’ ” Jonathan Goldsmith eventually made it - out to Los Angeles, anyway—and embarked on a career as a “that guy,” very often the that guy who gets killed, on television shows such as “Bonanza,” “Mannix,” “Gunsmoke,” “Hawaii Five-O,” ... to name a few.

As I don’t understand what that guy used in quotes means, I checked online dictionaries. Neither Cambridge online, nor Free Merriam-Webster has an entry for “that guy.”

Only Onlineslangdictionary.com carries the definition as “any person who does something considered inappropriate,” with an example, “I was going to crack a joke then, but I didn't want to be that guy.” But I don’t think this definition applies to “that guy” appearing in the above sentence.

What does “that guy” as a career Goldsmith built up mean? Does it mean a villain (in the film)? Is "that guy" a well-received of its own word?

Solution 1:

'That guy' is Hollywood speak for a character actor.

A 'That Guy' actor is self-explanatory - he's familiar because you've seen him in several movies, but you may not know his name because he's not famous like say, Al Pacino or Johnny Depp, so you usually refer to him as 'that guy who...'

Solution 2:

This is really interesting and my original interpretation was completely wrong. According to this site:

That Guy is easy to recognize and difficult to place. You can describe him but not name him.

These kinds of actors play particular types of characters and are highly recognizable, but because they don't usually have lead or starring roles, often people don't know their names. They can be good guys or bad guys, eccentric scientists or good old dads.

Jonathan Goldsmith is one of these actors, but in my mind R. Lee Ermey (the drill sargeant in the movie Full Metal Jacket) is a good, typical example of this kind of actor.

Here is another site with some more examples.

Solution 3:

"That guy" has two different connotations.

In the movie sense, "that guy" refers to an actor which you have seen in lots of movies and/or tv shows but who isn't famous.

EX: Did you see last night's episode of 30 Rock, it had that guy in it? What guy? You know, that guy with the white hair from Mad Men, Iron Man 2 and Ed.

The other definition that you found on the online slang dictionary refers to a generally negative action or type of person EX: Man, that girl at the gym is hot, I'm going to hit on her tomorrow while she's working out. Dude, don't be that guy.