Peter MacNicol — American Actor born on April 10, 1954,

Peter MacNicol is an American actor. He is known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, and David Langley in Bean. For television he is known for the roles of the eccentric lawyer John Cage in the FOX comedy-drama Ally McBeal, as Tom Lennox in the sixth season of action-thriller 24, Alan Birch in the medical drama Chicago Hope, and as physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt on the CBS crime drama Numb3rs... (wikipedia)

Acting is about covering up traces of who you are and just being the character. I think it's easier to accept people in roles if you don't know a lot about them.