Our 8 Favorite Pop Culture Accountants
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
While your accounting or bookkeeping life might seem glamorous or high-stakes to you, Hollywood turns your industry into an extreme lifestyle. You might see an accountant with the spectacular power to crunch numbers and use it for good, or you’ll find accountants as the calculating, cold criminal masterminds. There seems to be no consistently middle, neutral ground for or realistic representation of accountants and bookkeepers.
Though Hollywood doesn’t hit the nail on the head in its portrayal of accountants and bookkeepers, that doesn’t mean we don’t secretly enjoy and root for these characters in various TV and film productions. Check out Uncat’s favorite pop culture accountants in TV and film.
Kevin Malone, Angela Martin, and Oscar Martinez from “The Office”
Perhaps the most iconic and recognizable accountants in pop culture come from “The Office.” Kevin’s lazy idiocy, Angela’s uptight nature and obsession with her cats, and Oscar’s sympathizable exhaustion with antics witnessed every day at the Scranton office are hilariously relatable. Though some of the events and misbehaviors that unfold in the Scranton office are nonsensical and completely unrealistic, this endearing trio of accountants is too entertaining to ignore.
Ben Wyatt from “Parks and Recreation”
Apart from “The Office” Trio, Ben Wyatt—played by Adam Scott—is one of the most popular pop culture accountants, and one of the most lovable. While Wyatt is a straightforward budget auditor when we meet him in the series, he actually works as the teenage mayor of Partridge, Minnesota for a short period (two months) before being impeached. His work to help Pawnee’s local government avoid bankruptcy and maintain clean balance sheets makes him a hero in our books and is a relatively accurate representation of an accountant in pop culture.
Unrelated to his accounting career, we deeply respect and love his overwhelming nerdy passion for Star Wars, Twin Peaks, and Game of Thrones. I mean, who wouldn’t want to sit on a replica of the Iron Throne?
Skyler White from “Breaking Bad”
“Breaking Bad” is one of those shows you have to watch at some point, and as an accountant/bookkeeper, now you have even more of a reason to watch it (if you haven’t already). The series follows the effects of a high school chemistry teacher—Walter White—who turns into a kingpin in the methamphetamine trade to provide financial support for his family after he is diagnosed with untreatable lung cancer.
Since Walter’s actions are driven to protect and support his family, his wife—Skyler White (played by Anna Gunn)—is a major component of the narrative. Once Skyler learns that a lot of Walter’s money comes from selling meth, she makes use of her accounting skills to assist him by laundering the money through a car wash business. This portrayal of an accountant is more of a morally gray area, a reflection of both good and evil, as Skyler’s motivations are to protect her family, but her actions are technically illegal.
Andy Dufresne from “The Shawshank Redemption”
In “The Shawshank Redemption,” Andy Dufresne—played by Tim Robbins—is a quiet banker and bookkeeper serving a life sentence because he was unjustly convicted of killing his wife and her lover. While in prison, he begins to take care of the finances of the maximum security prison and utilizes his accounting and bookkeeping skills to assist the corrupt warden launder money. By helping the warden and others with their finances, Dufresne receives extra protection and his life untouched. Once he escapes from prison—by digging a tunnel out of his cell wall—he exposes the warden for years of corrupt and illegal bookkeeping.
While this portrayal of accountancy and bookkeeping is more towards the extreme, with an accountant using his masterful skills for good (or evil, since he does help the warden launder money), we still love this intense, dramatic portrayal of those working in accounting and finance.
Louis Tully from “Ghostbusters”
For all of your accounting and bookkeeping needs, who you gonna call? Louis Tully!
Louis Tully—played by Rick Moranis—is an accountant in the original “Ghostbusters” film. He sneakily invites clients to parties and events so he can write off the party expenses, but he eventually develops his accounting skills—now including tax law—to become the team’s official accountant and tax attorney in the second movie.
Bob Cratchit from “A Christmas Carol”
While not the most recognizable character from “A Christmas Carol” compared to the four spirits who visit Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit is Scrooge’s clerk. As a clerk, he completes accounting, copy-editing, bookkeeping, record-keeping, and other administrative work and holds an important role in Scrooge’s ultimate transformation.
Cratchit’s role and character symbolize the devastating and poor working conditions—minimal pay and extreme working hours—that many working-class and lower-class families suffered through in the Victorian era. Scrooge eventually is forced to confront his selfish behavior, especially by watching Bob Cratchit and his family, and ends up changing himself for the better. While of a different time, this portrayal of the plight of accounting and bookkeeping work can be relatable to many accountants and bookkeeping professionals today, as the long hours and grueling work—especially during the busy season—can be unpleasant and challenging at times.
Patsy Parisi from “The Sopranos”
If you haven’t watched “The Sopranos” yet, what are you doing with your life? (Seriously, go watch this amazing show).
The Sopranos is a drama series set in New York City and New Jersey, following Tony Soprano, an Italian-American mobster who struggles to balance his work life as the boss of the Soprano mob family and his own family life. The series ran from 1999 to 2007.
Patsy Parisi—played by Dan Crimaldi—is the accountant for Tony Soprano and the team. Despite other major character deaths each season, Parisi survived and worked the books through all six seasons of the show, even though he wavered over turning Tony over to the FBI. By the end of the series, Parisi’s son—Patrick Parisi—is engaged to Tony’s daughter—Meadow—ensuring that our favorite mobster accountant and his family will remain la Famiglia.
Loretta Castorini from “Moonstruck”
Loretta Castorini—played by Cher—in “Moonstruck” is a bookkeeper. Although this fact isn’t extremely pertinent to the progression of the plot of the film, it reveals a lot about who she is and her character. As bookkeepers likely know, you cannot be nonsensical in this field. When dealing with so many numbers (important financial numbers that determine the fate of businesses and personal lives), you have to be relatively serious and focused to properly do your job.
However, what we love about Castorini is how her character, her more serious and reflective nature as a bookkeeper foils the extravagant, excessive romantic gestures of Ronny Cammareri—played by Nicolas Cage. Seeing their romantic relationship unfold by the end when overly serious Castorini falls for Cammareri feels like a well-fought and justly earned battle.
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