JOHN GOODMAN (James P. Sullivan), one of Hollywood's busiest and most popular actors, brings heart and humor to his role as Monsters, Inc.'s top Scarer. Last year, Goodman lent his vocal talents to the Disney animated feature, "The Emperor's New Groove," where he voiced a humble peasant named Pacha.

Commenting on his role in "Monsters, Inc.," Goodman observes, "Sulley reminds me of one of those old NFL guys. He's like a seasoned lineman in the tenth year of his career. He is totally dedicated and a total pro. He looks a lot scarier than he really is and he's got a heart of gold. In fact, he kind of looks like a throw rug with horns.

"Billy and I had a lot of fun working together on this movie," he adds. "He's an incredible talent and has a mind like a computer. He's fast and funny and my job was to just hold onto his tail and follow wherever he'd go. And he'd go off on some pretty strange tangents. He always came up with three or four things that you could go all different ways with. It was fun to feed him and see which other way he would bounce. It translates perfectly to Mike and Sulley. They're so symbiotic and such a great roommate team. They'll always be friends.

"The folks at Pixar were great to work with. They're great writers and they understand how to build a story correctly. They're generous with their talent and they accept a lot of ad-libs and improvisations. The characters they create are so human and real and there are always some core meanings in their films that are simple but as true as life itself. I hope I get to work with them again."

Goodman earned a Golden Globe nomination in 1992 for his chilling performance in the Coen Brothers' "Barton Fink." His breakthrough role was in the Coens' "Raising Arizona," starred for them a third time in "The Big Lebowski," and recently appeared in a fourth film for the brothers in Touchstone Pictures, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

His resume includes "Bringing Out the Dead," "The Runner," "Coyote Ugly," "One Night at McCool's," "What Planet Are You From?" "The Jack Bull," "Fallen," "The Borrowers," "Blues Brothers 2000," "The Flintstones," "Mother Night," "Arachnophobia," "Always," "Pie in the Sky," "Born Yesterday," "Matinee," "The Babe," "King Ralph," "Punchline," "Everybody's All American," "Sea of Love," "Stella," "Eddie Macon's Run," "C.H.U.D.," "Revenge of the Nerds," "Maria's Lovers," "Sweet Dreams," "True Stories," "The Big Easy," "Burglar" and "The Wrong Guys."

Goodman has also given many highly acclaimed performances on television. He received Emmy nominations for his starring role in TNT's "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long," which he also produced and for his role as Mitch in the CBS production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." For eight seasons Goodman played Dan Conner in the comedy series "Roseanne," a role that earned him seven Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe.

A native of St. Louis, Goodman holds a degree in fine arts from Southwest Missouri State University. When a knee injury sidelined a prospective career in football, he began studying drama (along with fellow classmates Kathleen Turner and Tess Harper).

The actor has also performed in numerous dinner theatre and children's theatre productions, as well as off-Broadway plays. His regional theatre credits include "Henry IV Parts I & II," "Antony and Cleopatra" and "As You Like It." His career began to take off when he joined the production of "The Robber Bridegroom" for nine months. Eventually he starred in two Broadway shows, "Loose Ends" in 1979 and "Big River" in 1985.

Goodman made his screen debut in the HBO production "Mystery of the Moro Castle."