Who are the Actors Behind Some of TV’s Most Popular Commercial Characters?
No one watches television for the commercials, but some actors have made a living off of playing “spokes-character” roles in popular ad campaigns. In fact, many of their characters are so well known that they need only be referred to by first name. (Think: Flo, Mayhem, Jake from State Farm.)
Some actors in the gallery below are rising talents, others are established TV stars, but they’ve all starred in ads that might just get viewers to stay in the room, slow down their fast-forwarding, or take the TV off mute. Like a good neighbor, these TV commercial stars are there!
Laurel Coppock: Toyota’s Jan
Coppock, the actress behind Toyota’s fictional car salesperson, has guest-starred on Modern Family, The Office, and Arrested Development, and she’s one of the stars of the YouTube comedy series The BreakWomb.
Stephanie Courtney: Progressive’s Flo
For more than a decade now, Courtney has played the perky, retro-chic Flo for insurance company Progressive, but she also appeared (sans cat-eye makeup) in recurring roles on Mad Men and The Goldbergs.
Allstate’s Dennis Haysbert
Haysbert, presumably playing himself, has been asking potential Allstate insurance customers if they’re “in good hands” since 2003, around the time he was bringing the same gravitas to his role as President David Palmer on action drama series 24.
Kevin Miles: State Farm’s Jake
Miles was an up-and-coming actor with guest-starring roles on S.W.A.T. and Criminal Minds on his resume when he landed his role as the new “Jake,” a reincarnation of the State Farm agent on the other end of a 3 a.m. call from a married customer in one of the company’s best-known ads. And in a Super Bowl commercial this year, Jake got an A-list rapper as his stand-in: Drake… from State Farm.
Brandon Moynihan: Hotels.com’s Captain Obvious
This hotel booking website made a character out of what was once just a sarcastic comeback, hiring Moynihan to play Captain Obvious in 2014. In an interview published on LinkedIn, the actor said he gets recognized a lot at airports and at his kids’ elementary school, and that the biggest difference between him and his famous character is that the Captain has more hair and better posture.
J.K. Simmons: Farmers Insurance’s Nathaniel Burke
Aside from his role as a tweed-wearing University of Farmers professor in more than 65 commercials for Farmers Insurance, Simmons is also known for his dramatic roles in the TV shows Oz and The Closer and his Oscar-winning performance in the film Whiplash.
Milana Vayntrub: AT&T’s Lily
After playing AT&T store employee Lily from 2013 to 2016, Vayntrub returned to the part in 2020. In the intervening years, she had an eight-episode arc on This Is Us, playing Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) love interest, Sloane Sandburg.
Dean Winters: Allstate’s Mayhem
This Law & Order: SVU and 30 Rock alum brings real Fight Club energy to his role as Mayhem, a personification of the chaos that Allstate says it can protect homeowners and car owners from. His former 30 Rock costar Tina Fey even joined in on the fun for a few commercials in 2019.
Conversation19 Comments
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J
Funny, but in the original State Farm commercial, when we simply hear the voice that says "Uh, khakis," that was just a random voice. At that time I'm sure the agency didn't know (or think about) creating an actual Jake from State Farm. But the voice in that original ad is not the voice of the current Jake from State Farm.
As for Allstate's Mayhem, I remember a show he was in a few years ago called Battle Creek. And no, it wasn't about cereal. 😄
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G
There was an actual Jake, the guy the new Jake speaks to in his office when he asks if they ask what he is wearing.
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J
Well, I was wrong in that, in the old commercial, Jake WAS seen, but I am correct in that it is NOT the Jake we see now. Kind of scammy that they switched Jakes on us.
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O
The original man cast as Jake from State Farm is Jake Stone, an actual
State Farm insurance agent who worked in Bloomington, Illinois.
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J
I didn't know that, that's interesting, I'm glad they used a real employee. 🙂
(Also, I find it doubly interesting since a character in a show I liked, The Librarians, has a character named Jake Stone.)
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C
I remember JK Simmons best from Law & Order, where he played Dr. Emil Skoda.
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P
His name is Mike Sullivan
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O
Who is the Progressive Sign Spinner who hates Mondays and wants to build up his muscles spinning the sign, when his dad isn't around?
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R
How about the Liberty-Biberty guy...who "moved on" to Dr. Finn on The Bold and the Beautiful???
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R
Jena: That random voice belonged to (just) a guy who was not an actor named Jake. So a real guy named Jake was booted off for an actor pretending to be Jake. State Farm has done me a favor tho. They've removed themselves from contention of ever covering my vehicles or anything else I do or might own. Wouldn't trust them not to be backstabbers.
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O
Who's plays the parachute guy in the 4Imprint commercial?
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P
Who is actor in Servpro commercial who says "let her rip Randy?
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L
Does anyone know who the miners are in the Coventry Direct commercials?
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G
does anyone know the actors in the bmw red bow commercial?
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O
Who is the actor that plays The Captain in the FairHarbor.com ads?
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O
No, his name isn't Mike Sullivan. It's Max Ganet. Look him up, you'll see.
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P
Anyone know who the actor is playin the young guitar player in the Inland Empire Health Plan ad, featuring a music store that risks closure. The character saves money to keep the store open.
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O
They got rid of Jake Stone after that one commercial, to hire an actual actor, the next Jake from State Farm. But they did use Jake Stone in the first new Jake from State Farm commercial, when he sticks his head out from behind the divider and says, "Uh - Ya".
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O
Tanner Novlan, and his wife is actress Caitlyn Ewell, who was once on contract for B&B, too. I looked that up.
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