Kevin Tighe stars as Roy More, a chilling white supremacist, as "One Battle After Another."
The Christmas Adventurers Club in “One Battle After Another” (from left): Tony Goldwyn as Virgil Throckmorton, John Hoogenakker as Tim Smith, Kevin Tighe as Roy More, James Downey as Sandy Irvine and D.W. Moffett as Bill Desmond.

Yes, that's Kevin Tighe, star of the 1970s TV series “Emergency!" and 1989 "Road House" movie, making a bizarre and chilling appearance in "One Battle After Another."

Tighe, 81, plays Roy More, the toxic leader of a secret white supremacist cabal (the absurdly titled Christmas Adventurers Club) in director Paul Thomas Anderson's satirical drama (now on digital platforms).

It's one extended scene shot in front of a surreal diorama of stuffed flying pheasants. But for Tighe, who reset his career to play darker character roles after being typecast as mop-topped paramedic Roy DeSoto on “Emergency!” (1972 to 1979), his appearance in the prestige drama is a career-topping achievement.

“I never wanted celebrity, I just wanted to be regarded as a good character actor,” Tighe tells USA TODAY, speaking from his home in Bellingham, Washington. “In many ways, when I look back at my brief scene in this film, it’s the capper on what I was trying to do and reach."

After Kevin Tighe's 'Emergency!' role, 'I thought my career was over'

Tighe has no regrets about his star-making “Emergency!” years, starring as a married paramedic partnered with bachelor sidekick Johnny Gage (Randolph Mantooth). He was best man at Mantooth's second wedding in 2002, one of the many long-lasting friendships resulting from the NBC show. Tighe is proud that the series set around Los Angeles' fictional Station 51 was so popular that it inspired a generation of first responders, spurred a nationwide call for paramedic services, and paved the way for shows like "9-1-1" and "Chicago Fire."

But after six seasons and two TV specials, "Emergency!" ended in 1979, and the work flamed out for Tighe.

"I couldn't get arrested after that show ended," he says. "I thought my career was over."

Tighe started from scratch, studying acting in New York City and doing regional theater. "I slowly made the climb back," he says.

He landed his first malevolent role in director John Sayles' 1987 period drama "Matewan," playing a murderous company enforcer and coal strikebreaker.

"It was the first time I played a bad guy," says Tighe. "One day on the set, John Sayles came up to me and said, 'You'll be playing more bad guys.' And that's what happened."

Eight years after his last role, Kevin Tighe got the call for 'One Battle After Another'

Tighe followed that role by playing gambler Sport Sullivan in Sayles' 1988 baseball scandal drama, "Eight Men Out." In "Road House," he was the perfectly oily Double Deuce owner, Frank Tilghman, who hires bouncer Dalton (Patrick Swayze). He went entirely terrible in roles like ruthless con man Anthony Cooper on "Lost" (2005 to 2010) and a cold insurance CEO on TNT's "Leverage" (2009).

Tighe says he had to "withdraw" from acting after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2014. He had been semi-retired with a 2016 criminal return on "Law & Order: SVU" as his last appearance − eight years before the surprise call from Anderson's longtime collaborator, casting agent Cassandra Kulukundis.

Returning for the big-budget movie and meeting the revered director on the set was daunting.

"Quite frankly, I was nervous; it was a sleepless night before," Tighe says. "I hadn't worked in a while, and as you age, your memory gets fuzzy."

During rehearsals, he forgot the lines he had down cold the night before. Anderson was understanding.

"He put his arm around me and said, 'Don't worry about it, you're doing well,' " says Tighe.

The next day, for the cameras, Tighe brought the ice to the nefarious Christmas Adventurers Club, a group that shockingly features Tony Goldwyn (best known as the President Fitzgerald Grant III on "Scandal") as fellow member Virgil Throckmorton. The group hires hitman Tim Smith (John Hoogenakker) to kill the group's traitor, Col. Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn).

"I nailed it. And I nailed many variations of it, which (Anderson) seemed open to," says Tighe. "I seemed to know exactly what he wanted."

"I found an honesty," he says of the character.

More ends the meeting with a dark command to the hitman: "Make it clean, we should be able to eat off the floor."

It's all the more jarring since, even after half a century, fans still recognize Tighe as his good-natured "Emergency!" character.

"I've had a beard and long hair, but people always seem to know exactly who I am after 50 years. I'm kind of baffled by that," says Tighe. "I've had friends call, and people have been surprised to see me. There was definitely an element of surprise to that scene."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Emergency!' star Kevin Tighe makes surprise return in 'One Battle After Another'

Reporting by Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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