Why Vostanik Sabatino From NCIS: LA Looks So Familiar

If you've turned on a television during primetime sometime in the past three decades, odds are you've seen Erik Palladino at work. The actor has, after all, been a regular small screen player throughout his career, appearing in many of the best series to grace the airwaves. That list does indeed include one of the biggest hits in the history of modern television, NBC's revered medical drama "ER."

The series is, of course, best known for helping make stars of George Clooney, Julianna Marguiles, Noah Wylie, and Maura Tierney, among many others. The series also launched the careers of countless other young stars, including Erik Palladino. The actor joined the cast of "ER" during its sixth season on the air. He did so as the brash young resident Dr. Dave Malluci. To call the character's 47-episode tenure tumultuous would be an understatement — throughout that run, the talented (albeit overconfident and mouthy) Malluci tangles with pretty much every doctor and nurse in the building before being handed his walking papers. 

Malluci was, understandably, a major source of drama on "ER" between season 6 and 8. But he was a regular source of intrigue as well, with Palladino's deft work in the role rarely allowing the character's off-putting cockiness to overshadow his humanity.