2. Mickey Rourke as Marv
In: Sin City
Oddball Because: Because in 2004, Mickey Rourke was a Hollywood punchline at best, a spooky story for young up-and-comers at worst. Rourke burst onto the movie scene with a string of fantastic performances for the likes of Francis Ford Coppola. For a while he seemed poised for stardom. Instead, he flushed it away thanks to insane personal behavior, bizarre movie choices, and incredibly misguided forays into boxing and plastic surgery. By the 90s, Rourke was relegated to playing the villain against van Damme in direct-to-video action flicks. Giving him a central role in a highly-experimental action film alongside still-huge stars like Bruce Willis and Clive Owen as a gamble, to say the least.
Why He Was Perfect: The thing about Rourke is, hes a really, really frigging good actor. As Marv, he brings all his own real-world suffering to bear, giving the character a gravitas that Frank Millers hyper-stylized plotting and dialogue cant summon. Even under what looks like fifty pounds of make-up, Rourke communicates the unbreakable dignity of the big lug.
Best Moment: A bloodied Marv chats with his parole officer (Carla Gugino) and Rourke manages to somehow be tender and loveable even while gleefully describing the storm of blood and severed limbs hes got planned.
Bonus Moment: Is that all you got, you pansies?