30 years of Quentin Tarantino’s explosive movie ‘Reservoir Dogs’
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Credit: Gage Skidmore
Tim Roth discusses his career of playing the villain
Actors who love to play villains are few and far between, but when Hollywood finds one, they are cherished for decades, appearing in blockbuster movies and small grizzly independent films. Dominated by British thespians, the list includes the likes of Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Christopher Lee and Tim Roth, with the last name still playing some of the nastiest cinematic characters to this very day.
Roth’s history as a cinematic villain goes back to his very first on-screen appearance as Trevor in the TV movie Made in Britain, directed by Alan Clarke, where he played an antihero skinhead who clashes with social workers who want him to conform to the status quo. A brutal crime drama, Roth made a significant impact in his debut. The movie was released shortly before his collaboration with Mike Leigh in Meantime, where he plays a disgruntled young teenager.
Whilst he frequently played a heartthrob role throughout his early career, Roth later became a recognised actor who was capable of taking on dark, snarling villainous roles. Of his many antagonists, some of his most famous performances came in Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake, as well as his role as Abomination in the Marvel movie, The Incredible Hulk, where he starred alongside Edward Norton.
Roth recently spoke to Den of Geek about his time in cinema playing the villain, with the actor telling the publication that the knack to playing a good antagonist is to focus on the character’s humanity.
“I like that notion, because that’s what we all are,” Roth states, adding: “I think there’s also a habit that we have to be very careful with. You see actors fall into a bit of a trap, the whispering bad guy acting. It’s not my cup of tea, to put it that way”. Indeed, as the actor describes, it is all too easy to snarl in a low voice, lower your gaze and cast some long hair over your face, with the greatest villains of all time coming in the form of intricate, deeply human characters.
Continuing, Roth explains: “Everyone is human. As inhuman as they can be, we have to bring some sense of humanity to it, because that’s more interesting. Then it becomes intriguing”.
Roth’s latest appearance as the villain comes in the form of Resurrection, directed by Andrew Semans, a filmmaker who has only completed one feature film before this forthcoming release. The actor, who himself made The War Zone in 1999, further told the publication that working with a filmmaker who is new to the industry is a unique challenge that involves quickly forming a strong working relationship between actor and director.
Working with Quentin Tarantino during his directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs, Roth knows this reality all too well, stating: “Quentin was a first-time director when I worked with him…You’re looking for that new vision, you’re looking for that energy. But really, with any director, you’re like, how do they deal with actors? How do they get their vision across? You’re getting to know them in the beginning before you start shooting. Can you have any kind of rapport with them?”.
Take a look at Roth playing the menacing villain of The Incredible Hulk, below.
