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Anna Phillips-Brown

Carl Boles

February 23, 2017

Acting I

Why John C. McGinley is One of the Best Things to Happen to Me and America

When one thinks of an actor, one often imagines someone with their eyebrows painted

on, holding a skull. This comes from the classic stereotypical perception of an actor, perhaps

such as William Shakespeare or 30 Rocks’ Jenna Maroney. When I think of an actor, however, I

imagine a person working tirelessly to bring life and experience to a faint idea of a person, and

develop and fully fleshed out character with emotions, a past, and a future. The person I am

describing is perfectly embodied in one of the stars of NBC’s Scrubs, Dr. Cox, also known as

John C. McGinley. Throughout the nine seasons the medical comedy ran, Percival Ulysses Cox

displayed a tremendous character arc, juggling his tumultuous work life, his borderline

personality disorder sporting wife, his two children, and his own obsequious man child

(portrayed by the incomparable Zach Braff). In addition to his responsibilities allayed in the plot

of the show, Cox struggles with a horribly damaging upbringing, therefore intensifying his depth

and multiplying his layers as a character. McGinley’s embodiment of this character and his

development is nothing less of superb, and while he has also made cameo appearances in other

films such as Are We There Yet?, his performance as Dr. Cox is his most memorable and

demonstrative of his abilities. John C. McGinley is my favorite actor in todays’ day and age, due

to his commitment, thoroughness as an artist, and expertise use of comedic timing and dramatic

realism.
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McGinley’s commitment to his character of Dr. Cox is without a doubt one of his

strongest attributes as a performer. It is quite easy to tell when an actor is, to use an age-old

adage, asking for the laugh instead of the butter, and McGinley is never once guilty of that

during his entire experience as Cox. In one episode, McGinley’s character is in a desperate

search to find organ donors for three withering patients, one of which he has formed a

particularly unique bond with. A woman with whom he has a history of dealing with dies

unexpectedly, the cause seeming to have been an overdose, and he is consequently eager to use

her organs for his other patients, confident enough to act without consulting an autopsy. It is

quickly discovered after the transplants, once the recipients of the organs begin to deteriorate

rapidly, that the cause of death was rabies, leaving the organs and their recipients infected. In the

end, McGinley’s character winds up having accidentally killed three patients in one day as a

result of his lack of patience. His portrayal of Cox’s spiraling devastation and reclusion

following the incident does not leave the audience doubting him for even half a second, as

McGinley portrays so much more than I could have ever thought possible, without saying more

than 4 words in the entire duration of an episode. This particular side of his character is well

complimented by his daily anger challenged, quick witted demeanor in Dr. Cox’s natural state.

McGinley executes superb comedic timing with finesse and finely tuned sarcasm, while never

failing to deliver a harshly resonating truth among the madness. In all honesty, McGinley’s art is

best described in the way that it appears as though he is never acting.

One of the most important features of Dr. Cox is his wildly troubled past as a result of his

abusive parents and collection of unhealthy relationships. McGinley very clearly has a vivid

understanding of Cox’s past, most of which is never made apparent to the audience. The way

McGinley carries himself as Cox and interacts with other characters is a fully developed human
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being simply experiencing a day in the life of Dr. Cox. There is no presentation or asking for

approval or permission involved, very simply just being. Every moment McGinley spends as

Cox is utterly believable and tangibly raw, the audience does not have the chance to think about

whether McGinley is a good actor. Without the proper research and meticulous work, a character

does not become anything more than what is written in the script, leaving him two dimensional

and essentially useless. McGinley’s effort in his portrayal of Dr. Cox is wildly apparent strictly

based on how much presence he has simply when entering a room, and is able to maintain his

grasp on that presence the entire time he has the focus of the camera, which is only possible

when working with a fully fleshed out character. The character research of Cox is what propels

each and every one of his reactions to every event throughout the entire series, and simply would

not be at all poignant without a remarkable understanding of who Cox is as a person, what he

wants, how he is going to obtain it, and why he wants it at this very moment, and cannot wait a

moment longer.

In conclusion, John C. McGinley does not receive nearly as much credit as he is due for

his insanely detailed performance of Dr. Perry Cox for nine years. His work as an actor is

consistent, remarkably complex, and crucially motivated at all times, regardless of the

circumstances of his character. To watch him flip from manic depressive to father figure to

narcissistic teacher is nothing short of fascinating and enthralling to me, and no matter how many

times I watch the full series of Scrubs, I am never not taken aback by his dedication to the craft,

and how strongly I am convinced that Dr. Cox is not a character in the slightest, but a real living,

breathing, and experiencing human. That interpretation of a character does not come strictly

from great writing, but from marvelously skilled acting.

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