From Keyser Soze to Francis Underwood, Spacey is the bad guy that we love to love.
If you haven’t seen House of Cards, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. You don’t even have to order Netflix; just steal a friend’s login and password.
Kevin Spacey’s performance might confirm something truly bold: He is the ultimate villainous actor.
His character, Francis Underwood, is a sinister dude. He’s an ambitious and calculated alpha dog who takes no prisoners. Cross him at your own risk, but be warned: He’s playing chess and you’re merely playing checkers.
He will use you, abuse you and drop you at a moments notice. And he’ll do it all with a sly smirk and Southern charm. He’d give Tywin Lannister a run for his money, and I can’t help but think that Spacey LOVES to play this type of role. He’s been perfecting it for years.
It’s understandable that Spacey’s name might not pop into your head when you think of film and TV villains. When you think of the ultimate bad guys, it’s hard not immediately be drawn to Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter or Heath Ledger (RIP) as the Joker.
However, neither of those talents has played more iconic bad dudes than Spacey.
His turn as serial killer John Doe in Se7en was among the creepiest, eeriest and controlled performances in recent memory. Not to mention, it was completely unexpected.
Raise your hand if you would’ve initially pictured him in that role. Anyone? No? That’s what I thought. Spacey had always played the nice guy; he’s super likable. However, director David Fincher knew something that the rest of us didn’t, and he kept that little gem a secret.
Well, it definitely paid off.
Still, it was nothing compared to his performance in The Usual Suspects. Why was he so good in that film? It’s because you didn’t see his character coming. Spacey was so bad, you didn’t even know he was bad.
He was the ultimate puppet master, crafting stories out of thin air. Spacey’s character, Verbal Kint, was a king masquerading around as a pawn, and no one can do that better than Spacey.
You never know when he’s going to bring that kind of thunder. As they say in The Usual Suspects, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” That’s what makes Spacey so effective.
The baddie with a calm demeanor is Spacey’s calling card, and in that respect, he’s second to none. However, it wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, it was unfathomable to picture Kevin Spacey as the bad guy.
However, slowly but surely, he’s honed that craft and perfected the art. In the process, he’s put together some of the most iconic and unforgettably evil performances of all time.
How’d he pull it off? Well, that’s what makes Kevin Spacey the ultimate villain. You didn’t see it coming.
–modified photo Pinguino K. /Flickr Creative Commons
About the author: Jameson on the rocks, Philly sports, Indie film: a man of simple pleasures. Jason Alsher joins Elite Daily after a three year ‘pilgrimage’ to the City of Angels. Asked about his return to the East Coast, the former overnight camp All Star stated, ‘The weather was too beautiful and the people were too genuine.’ Jason is an aspiring idealist, masquerading as a realist (but probably more of a cynic). The keys to his heart: witty banter and gummies.