Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I Love Supporting Actors: Brad Dourif

You know, this guy:
Notable Roles:

Billy Bibbit - "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"

Chucky (voice) - The "Child's Play" movies

Crewman Lon Suder - "Star Trek: Voyager"

Grima Wormtongue - the "Lord of the Rings" movies



Why He's Awesome:



The first thing you're probably noticing is that "Voyager" credit I listed. In a career spanning 30+ years, why include a brief role on a bad show? That just happened to be the first role I saw him in and he was captivating. He played an officer who was secretly a sociopath, a guy who kills just because. Tuvok mild-melds him and makes him super zen.. Later that season, he has been on house arrest, spending every day meditating and supressing his bloodlust. By the end of that episode, he has to kill a lot of evil aliens to save the ship. This subplot made me give "Voyager" more of a chance than it deserved. He was so interesting to watch, I was sad when they killed him off.

To the rest of the world, he was the kid who came out of nowhere and got an Oscar nomination for "Cuckoo's Nest." This would begin a long, dark career for an actor who has said in interviews he's just happy to work. Playing the jittery, the psychopaths, and the disturbed, Dourif brings an intensity few can muster. We don't even need to see his face to feel it. Chucky the doll is to this day one of the scariest serial killers in movie history, and that has as much to do with art design as Brad Dourif's creepy voice.

To most, he's Wormtongue from "Two Towers" and "Return of the King." A few more iconic roles to add to his resume and he'll work forever. He has 8 films listed in various stages of production for 2011 alone.

You'd Be Surprised to Learn:

He knows how to play the didgeridoo.

Check out his imdb page.

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