10 Likeable Actors Who Need to Play Psychopaths
10 actors who need to shake up their career by playing psychopaths.
We all love it when actors play against type, and while it can be fun watching villainous actors playing the good guy for once, is there anything more delicious than watching actors known for being charming and good-looking turning their talents to a bit of villainy? We need only look as far as the likes of Robin Williams' turn in One Hour Photo to see how stirring and effective this transition can be, and though it can be a risky move for actors, it's one that can pay off in spades and demonstrate versatility we didn't know they had. Here are 10 hugely likeable actors who need to break out of their rut and play some truly despicable characters.
10. Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise has shown in the past that he can play a great villain, chiefly as the ice-cold assassin Vincent in Michael Mann's masterful Collateral, and also in Interview with the Vampire. However, while he rarely plays characters as unambiguously evil as those, he has played a few characters who are undeniably imbued with an air of darkness, such as Frank T.J. Mackey in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, and Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. All of these roles have earned him significant praise - and you have to hand it to him for playing a villain like Vincent during a particularly tumultuous time in his career - though his fetching good looks and charming persona mean that he's usually cast as the good guy, and he's surely best-known for the likes of Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible franchise. Many will joke that Tom Cruise being actually crazy would mean that he'd just be playing himself as a crazy killer, but why not channel that energy into something a little...different? I'm sure it would be a jarring shift to see Cruise not only playing a villain, but playing a messed up villain, jittery and erratic. He can even jump on the sofa if he really wants...