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Ever since the death of J.T. Walsh, the world has been waiting to see which Hey! It's That Guy! could step in to fill the void he left. Michael Rooker can do a Walsh-esque piggy-eyed crooked lawman. John Heard has a similar world-weary mien and also shoulders the white man's burden the same way Walsh did in his less bad-ass-y roles. Fred Thompson shares the late Walsh's evident contempt for everyone and everything that crosses his path. But although all of the above may embody facets of what made Walsh so great, there's just no one actor we could point to as Walsh reborn.

In many ways, Jeffrey Jones and J.T. Walsh have little in common other than their incredibly long résumés. Where Walsh's stock-in-trade was the squinting, amoral asshole, Jones is best remembered by all of us as the resourceful yet ultimately bested and finally hysterical vice-principal on a rampage, Ed Rooney, of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Walsh played many a bested character in his time -- Dickerson in Good Morning, Vietnam, Niebaum in The Negotiator -- but even in defeat, Walsh is always able to maintain the steely composure of a man who would still just as soon crush your larynx as look at you. Jones's Ed is an asshole, but a moral one, and an asshole on such a tiny scale that it's almost like he's a miniaturized, comic J.T. Walsh. Think of Jeffrey Jones in the last half-hour of Bueller. Can you picture J.T. Walsh ever sinking up to his ankle in a mud puddle? Getting kicked in the face by a female high-school sophomore? Riding on a school bus? Of course not, and the very idea is ludicrous.

Jeffrey Jones is the only character actor of Walsh's calibre working today, and as versatile as both men have shown themselves to be, Jones actually has one significant advantage over the late Walsh (other than...you know, life itself): Jeffrey Jones is like J.T. Walsh if Walsh had the capacity to feel and express joy. Basically, Jeffrey Jones is J.T. Walsh with a sense of humour.

Think about it. Jeffrey Jones wears powdered wigs (Amadeus, Valmont, The Crucible, Sleepy Hollow). He does comedy -- the broader (Houseguest, Stay Tuned, Heartbreakers), the better. He appears opposite CG animals (Stuart Little, Dr. Dolittle 2), zombies (Beetlejuice), and John Leguizamo (The Pest). He's every bit as prolific as Walsh ever was; the difference is that Jones sometimes seems to be having fun.

We all have to come to terms with the fact that there was only one J.T. Walsh. We'll never have another. We were lucky to have him at all. And we should be grateful that, now that Walsh has left us, we still have Jeffrey Jones.