American actor Theo Rossi, popular for playing the bad guy with scalp tattoos in “Sons of Anarchy” and supervillain Hernan “Shades” Alvarez in Marvel’s “Luke Cage”, says he has always been attracted to faults as they are “very human”. He is also interested in playing Batman as he is one of the superheroes who has a “lot of baggage”.
Asked if playing a bad character comes naturally to him, Rossi told IANS in a telephonic interview from Austin, Texas: “I wish I could say no, but yes it does. It’s always easier to play a bad character or a villain you might say because usually they have way more depth. You learn a lot more about them. There is a lot more history.”
“Whereas in the case of heroes, you usually don’t really learn so much about them. They are just the heroes…just the good guys…we all have issues and we all have things that are wrong. It depends on what level. I have always been attracted to faults because faults are very human.”
But he feels “really lucky because if you look at my three biggest projects – ‘Sons of Anarchy’, ‘Luke Cage’ and ‘Lowriders’, the characters that I have played are being loved in the end by the fans so even though they are portrayed as the bad guys, they are actually the most liked characters in the project”.
Elaborating more, Rossi said: “Juice was the most loved character on ‘Sons of Anarchy’. People love Shades. They feel for him. Then Ghost in ‘Lowriders’. They understand him and feel bad for him.”
“So even though they might be the bad guys in theory, they are actually the good guys that people like. I have been very fortunate that I don’t get to play just straight black and white guys. I play kind of the ones that are questionable. That’s the best kind of character to play.”
What about playing a superhero?
“Yeah. I mean only if he had a lot of like depth and maybe one like the Punisher or Batman…the ones that have a lot of baggage with them. They are kind of dark to begin with. I think those are the best heroes,” said Rossi.
He is playing a supervillain in a Marvel show but wants to play DC Comics’ superhero!
“You know when I grew up, there was no such thing as difference (between the two comics). We just read them all. So I treat them all the same,” said the actor of “Lowriders”, which will soon air on Sony PIX in India.
Meanwhile, Rossi is excited about “Vault”.
“One of my films is coming out…’Vault’. It’s my first movie where I kind of carry the project. It is a really special movie to me. It is based on a true story. My company is involved in producing that. It is set in 1972. It’s something that my company is involved in..in a small role producing and I am also starring in. That I am really excited for.
“We have another film coming out called ‘Ghost of War’ by the director (Eric Bress) of ‘The Butterfly Effect’ and ‘Final Destination’. I am really enjoying the moment of everybody really loving ‘Luke Cage’ season 2,” he said.
