“A real sleazy type”: the character Michael Caine admitted was a loser
To hone a career as lengthy and as lucrative as Michael Caine’s, versatility is essential. The London-born actor may have some recurring interests and quirks in his filmography, such as his characteristic Cockney delivery and his penchant for crime flicks, but he has always resisted typecasting. Caine has filled a 60-year career with every type of character and project you can think of, excelling at each and every one.
He seems to achieve this by humanising each role, always grounding them in reality. Whether he’s taking on the cool but crooked spy Harry Palmer, Batman’s trusted butler Alfred Pennyworth, or disregarding the fourth wall as playboy Alfie, Caine brings a certain vulnerability and familiarity to each role he takes on, no matter how suave or cinematic the script dictates them to be.
Even when he’s taking on slick gangsters and con artists, the Londoner somehow brings them back down to earth with his playful on-screen presence. In his quest to play real people rather than glitzy, glamorous characters, though, Caine has often been drawn to characters he considers to be “losers”. One example of this came in 1998 with Little Voice.
Under Mark Herman’s direction, Caine took on the role of “Ray freakin’ Say”, a talent manager who is well-deserving of the title “loser”. His attempts to boost the singing career of the main character, Laura, played by Jane Horrocks, are made entirely out of sleazy self-interest. Caine’s character finally gets his comeuppance at the end of the film as he delivers a pathetic rendition of ‘It’s Over’ on stage, a true loser.
While many actors might be turned away by the prospect of playing such a pitiful character, Caine revelled in the opportunity. When The Guardian asked him what interested him in the project, he cited Ray Say as his reasoning. “It’s something which has always been dear to my heart,” he explained, “I’ve played a variety of sleaze bags in my life. It’s because I am not. And you always like to be what you aren’t.”
Caine continued to explain how actors find catharsis through the opportunity to live a different life for a short while on set. His love for Ray Say, in particular, came from the combination of his position as an agent and how much of a “loser” he was. “It was a sort of vendetta from my early life with all these agents who turned me down,” Caine explained, “and I made him into a real sleazy type”.
It’s easy to see how this opportunity could bring catharsis to an actor. Taking inspiration from the sleazy, selfish agents he had been around in the real entertainment industry, Caine could deliver a stellar performance as Ray Say while also getting back at those managers who had rejected him in his early career. Caine’s performance earned him critical acclaim and even a BAFTA nomination, though he lost out to Roberto Benigni for Life Is Beautiful.
Though Caine certainly isn’t a loser himself, he certainly seems to excel at playing them. His filmography is filled to the brim with complex and flawed characters, with losers and crooks, with winners despite it all, but, most of all, with real humans. As he brings a sense of humanity to each project he takes on, he turns characters into complex, developed people on-screen.
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