Ben Mendelsohn Is So Damn Good At Being Bad

Let’s talk about Ben Mendelsohn. (I mean, I personally do that enough already, but let’s all talk about Ben Mendelsohn). His impressive Aussie résumé aside, the actor first started making waves stateside when he appeared in The Dark Knight Rises and The Place Beyond the Pines in 2012. He really cemented himself as a Hollywood presence after breaking out on Netflix‘s Bloodline in 2015. As black sheep brother Danny Rayburn, Mendelsohn was simultaneously unsettling and sympathetic, and his character’s untimely demise and resulting absence evidently wound up hurting the series in the long run. His presence is just that magnetic. Since then, he’s only further proven himself as a delightfully demented asset to every project he’s been a part of, even lending his talents as a sinister Star Wars villain in Rogue One. This isn’t to say that Mendelsohn can’t play an agreeable good guy (the marvelous Mississippi Grind is proof of that), but the man is just so good at being bad.

It’s no secret that many actors try to avoid getting typecast as villains, and it’s certainly understandable. There’s something to be said for embracing type, however, and finding humanity and depth in villains – and that’s exactly what Ben Mendelsohn does. From smaller scale, offbeat flicks like Lost River, Slow West, and Una to  high-profile, big budget projects like Rogue One and the upcoming Ready Player One and Robin Hood, he’s reliably filled the shoes of just about every brand of villain under the sun. (He’ll also soon join the Marvel family as the villain in Captain Marvel, which means he’s pretty much checked every bad guy box at this point).

Despite the malevolent thread through the majority of his roles, there’s a marked difference between Mendelsohn and other actors who always seem to play villains. Rather than going cartoonishly evil or totally inaccessible, he leans into the darkest, most interesting parts of each character, often making them even more fascinating than the heroes we’re supposed to root for. Who wants to watch Kyle Chandler grapple with his morality when you can witness Mendelsohn snake his way in and out of different situations, leaving chaos in his wake and igniting a spark every time he’s on screen.

Maybe it’s the twinkle in his eye or his unconventional speaking pattern, that bone structure or his ability to steal a scene from veteran actors like Sissy Spacek or classic pretty-boy leading men like Ryan Reynolds. There’s an unpredictable danger that lurks beneath each role he inhabits, and the energy is never quite what you expect – he heads in directions other actors might not ever consider. He’s played slimy, upstanding, mysterious, imposing, downtrodden, unhinged, even disarmingly charming – it’s impossible to get a grip on what he really is, and that’s why he’s such a revelation on screen.

Regardless of how you feel about the characters he plays, there’s a reason we’re seeing Mendelsohn everywhere as of late. He’s proven time and time again that you’ll never quite get the same bad guy twice. He’s so damn good at being bad – and pretty much everything else he does. In a black and white world, Ben Mendelsohn plays into the grey areas, splashing color in places that make his performances so rich and textured, you’ll forget he’s “just” playing the bad guy.