In baseball, a utility player is someone who can play several different positions well. These athletes are not usually the stars of the team, but they do whatever grunt work is necessary for the team to shine. Since that level of versatility is rare, those who can move seamlessly between positions are highly admired by their teammates.

While this same characteristic is valued in film stars -- take chameleons Johnny Depp and Gary Oldman, for example -- TV actors, on the other hand, historically perform best when choosing roles of a similar nature. Not anymore.

A number of today's gifted actors are standing out by proving their versatility, nailing dramatic characters as well as sitcom roles. Of those multifaceted actors, here are the five we think are the best utility players on TV.