Paul Walter Hauser

PAUL WALTER HAUSER IS HAVING WHAT MANY WOULD CONSIDER A CAREER-best year. In the indie crime ensemble Americana (August 15), Hauser plays a veteran opposite Sydney Sweeney, describing them as “two real people who are lost and a little broken and they find each other.”

- H. Alan Scott

He credits everything great about the reboot of The Naked Gun—in which he plays Captain Ed Hocken Jr.—to Akiva Schaffer, who he believes is “one of our best comedy directors. Period.” As Mole Man in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Hauser was surprised by how real the superhero story was. “It doesn’t treat the audience stupidly. It has something grounded amidst the grandiosity.” Rounding out his incredible year is the Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (October 24). Reflecting on the year, Hauser says it all comes down to one thing. “The through line was good writing.” And he hopes it’s a year like the one John C. Rei