So bad they're good

By Lisa Rosen

Nov. 14, 2007 12 AM PT

Special to The Times

A lot of good actors went bad this year. Real bad. Surly, mean, reprehensible, criminal, unforgivable and pretty much irresistible. Critics and audiences alike have been enjoying the nasty performances of the likes of Denzel Washington in “American Gangster,” Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and Russell Crowe and Ben Foster in “3:10 to Yuma.”

And acclaim for at least a few of them will surely be coming soon from other quarters. The worthy nemesis is a work of art and is duly recognized as such when awards season rolls around.

The Oscars have long loved dirty rotten scoundrels. The fifth Oscar for best actor went to Fredric March for his dual role in 1931’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (though, to be fair, he shared it with Wallace Beery, who came in a close second for his good-guy role in “The Champ”). A gallery of rogues has won or been nominated since then, notorious among them Anthony Hopkins in “Silence of the Lambs” and Jeremy Irons in “Reversal of Fortune.” The tide may still be rising. Last year saw Forest Whitaker take the Oscar, among many other awards, for his performance as the murderous dictator Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.” Other leading men who have been nominated recently as antagonists include Daniel Day-Lewis, Alec Baldwin, Paul Newman, Ben Kingsley and Joaquin Phoenix, with Washington winning in 2001 for his superbad cop in “Training Day.”

“Once upon a time American films were made about heroes,” said film historian and critic David Thomson. “And that went on and on and it became monotonous and it became a little worn out and it became a little fake, in that anyone who looked at the real America observed that less-than-good guys were doing awfully well, despite everything the films were trying to tell us.”

Thomson, author of “The New Biographical Dictionary of Film,” sees “The Godfather” as a turning point for appealing heavies. “There aren’t really any good guys in the picture and yet there’s a whole lot of tremendous acting opportunities,” he noted, adding that while Marlon Brando’s first Oscar was for Terry Malloy, a weary, beaten hero in 1954’s “On the Waterfront,” his second was for Vito Corleone. “I think that is a reflection of a general feeling of disillusion with heroes and the feeling that America is characterized by its nasty guys as much as its good guys.”

And then there was Anthony Hopkins winning in 1991 for Hannibal Lecter, an example Thomson deemed “extraordinarily surprising. First of all, horror films generally did not make the nomination in Oscar history. And the villain, much less the cannibalistic villain . . . no sort of award would go for that.” Added one studio insider who wished to remain anonymous so he could speak about non-clients, “Can you imagine that in a lesser actor’s hands? It could have been just a travesty.” And if the villain doesn’t work, neither does the movie.

LEST we forget the fairer sex, women can be just as bad given half a chance -- and, unfairly, that’s about all they’re given. “There aren’t the same sort of complex roles written for women, which is obviously an enormous mistake,” said Ben Mankiewicz, weekend host of Turner Classic Movies. Nonetheless, last year Judi Dench and Meryl Streep were nominated for their devious turns in “Notes on a Scandal” and “The Devil Wears Prada” respectively. Charlize Theron won for her “Monster” in 2003. In supporting roles, Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” and Meryl Streep in “Rendition” are presently doing their best to be the worst. But the heyday of women going wild, in tales that befit a modern Bette Davis or Joan Crawford, is largely gone. “Those movies are on Lifetime now,” said the insider.

Thomson agreed that audiences seem to like women softer now but a few great performances do get through, such as Louise Fletcher in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Faye Dunaway in “Network” and Kathy Bates in “Misery,” all award winners. The studio person pointed out that Glenn Close was wonderfully evil -- and nominated -- for both “Fatal Attraction” and “Dangerous Liaisons.” “She was the biggest goody two-shoes in ‘The Natural’ and you hardly remember she was in it,” he said. “Yet, you never forget the roles she played when she was a villain.”

Mankiewicz noted that one of his favorite villains of all time is Linda Fiorentino’s character in “The Last Seduction.” “She’s flat-out the most evil character ever to appear on film,” he said, pointing out that she would have surely been a contender for the Oscar if the film hadn’t been released on HBO first. “She doesn’t work nearly enough and I wonder whether it’s because people think she’s evil.”

They’re fun to watch, these bad guys and femme fatales. Said Thomson, “Francis Ford Coppola once said that on a film set, you can always tell when a day is going to involve killing, because everyone comes ‘round to watch.” They’re clearly fun roles to play, usually offering more complexity and depth than the average hero. And the better actors are also attracted because they’re Oscar bait.

It doesn’t hurt that when an actor known for heroic roles assumes a villain’s mantle, it looks like (and may well be) a huge creative stretch. Michael Douglas played a number of good guys very well before finally taking home the gold for the slimy Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” in 1987. The villain not only goes against the type of role a leading actor may normally take, but the kind of person we think he or she is, thanks to a carefully crafted public image. Everyone loves Denzel Washington the movie star, so his playing the bad guy in “Training Day” had an added shock, making the choice to play him look even bolder.

“Currently in Hollywood, Leo, Matt, Brad, those people are asking to play characters with edge, they do not want to play heroic people,” the insider said. “The most desirable roles for the major movie stars are as anti-heroic as they were in the early to mid-’70s.” Mankiewicz looks forward to the results. “First of all, it’s a sign that these movies are for grown-ups,” he pointed out. “We don’t give moral ambiguity to children.”

In the interim, audiences can expect to cringe at the sight of Javier Bardem in the upcoming “No Country for Old Men,” and at least half the cast of “Sweeney Todd” will be delivering the goods on the bads and the uglies.

The hero better watch his back; the rest of us will be watching the villain.

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OSCAR’S ROGUES GALLERY

This year’s crop of films has its share of bad guys, some we’re enthralled by, like Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” and Denzel Washington in “American Gangster,” some we’re smitten by, like Russell Crowe in “3:10 to Yuma,” and some we’re simply repulsed by, like Armin Mueller-Stahl in “Eastern Promises.” However they bring it off, actors who take these roles are often embraced at awards time. Here’s a rundown of some Oscar-winning villains, maniacs and other antagonists:

1931/1932: Fredric March, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (actor)

1947: Ronald Colman, “A Double Life” (actor)

1950: George Sanders, “All About Eve” (supporting actor)

1958: Burl Ives, “The Big Country” (supporting actor)

1960: Burt Lancaster, “Elmer Gantry” (actor)

1962: Ed Begley, “Sweet Bird of Youth” (supporting actor)

1965: Shelley Winters, “A Patch of Blue” (supporting actress)

1968: Ruth Gordon, “Rosemary’s Baby” (supporting actress)

1969: Gig Young, “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” (supporting actor)

1972: Marlon Brando, “The Godfather” (actor)

1975: Louise Fletcher, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (actress)

1976: Faye Dunaway, “Network” (actress)