It takes a Strong man to be bad
Source: Agencies |
May 14, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MARK Strong likes being the bad guy.
The British actor's flair for wickedness has landed him choice roles in Robert Downey Jr's "Sherlock Holmes," the comic-book adaptation "Kick-Ass" and now Russell Crowe's "Robin Hood."
It's a new persona for Strong, who typically played nice guys before his sudden run as the heavy.
"The irony is, I've been doing this, I suppose, for 25 years, and I was never the bad guy for 20 years. And a part came along a little while back, and it was to play quite a troubled, psychotic gangster, and they wouldn't give me the part. It was a part I wanted to play but they wouldn't give it to me, because they didn't think that I could plum the depths of darkness. They thought I wasn't evil enough," said Strong, 46, at the Cannes Film Festival, where "Robin Hood" premiered.
"The irony is that the minute I played it, everybody saw it and that's yielded the stuff that I've been doing recently.
"I've played heroes, I've played lovers, I've played romantic comedies. But I'm enjoying this, I have to say."
Strong co-starred in several seasons of Helen Mirren's "Prime Suspect" and has built relationships with filmmakers who sign him up again and again. "Sherlock Holmes" director Guy Ritchie cast Strong in "Revolver" and "RocknRolla," Scott used him in "Body of Lies" and "Kick-Ass" filmmaker Matthew Vaughn also gave him a role as a villain in "Stardust."
Strong played bad guys in Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist" and Emily Blunt's "The Young Victoria."
"He has sort of a frightening intensity about him," said "Robin Hood" producer Brian Grazer. "There's an unpredictability that would make him more frightening as a bad guy."
Strong views it as an honor filmmakers keep offering him the chance to be a scoundrel.
"I take it as a compliment. Maybe there is an intelligence required to play the villain," he said.
The British actor's flair for wickedness has landed him choice roles in Robert Downey Jr's "Sherlock Holmes," the comic-book adaptation "Kick-Ass" and now Russell Crowe's "Robin Hood."
It's a new persona for Strong, who typically played nice guys before his sudden run as the heavy.
"The irony is, I've been doing this, I suppose, for 25 years, and I was never the bad guy for 20 years. And a part came along a little while back, and it was to play quite a troubled, psychotic gangster, and they wouldn't give me the part. It was a part I wanted to play but they wouldn't give it to me, because they didn't think that I could plum the depths of darkness. They thought I wasn't evil enough," said Strong, 46, at the Cannes Film Festival, where "Robin Hood" premiered.
"The irony is that the minute I played it, everybody saw it and that's yielded the stuff that I've been doing recently.
"I've played heroes, I've played lovers, I've played romantic comedies. But I'm enjoying this, I have to say."
Strong co-starred in several seasons of Helen Mirren's "Prime Suspect" and has built relationships with filmmakers who sign him up again and again. "Sherlock Holmes" director Guy Ritchie cast Strong in "Revolver" and "RocknRolla," Scott used him in "Body of Lies" and "Kick-Ass" filmmaker Matthew Vaughn also gave him a role as a villain in "Stardust."
Strong played bad guys in Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist" and Emily Blunt's "The Young Victoria."
"He has sort of a frightening intensity about him," said "Robin Hood" producer Brian Grazer. "There's an unpredictability that would make him more frightening as a bad guy."
Strong views it as an honor filmmakers keep offering him the chance to be a scoundrel.
"I take it as a compliment. Maybe there is an intelligence required to play the villain," he said.
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