Playing a bad guy IS fun
Patrick Duffy, the man who played Bobby Ewing on "Dallas", once said that he would've much rather had the J.R. role.
Now this seems a little far fetched at first. Patrick Duffy played the ultimate alpha male. Rich, successful, good looking, could get women any time he wanted, and married a brick oven hot woman to boot. Combine that with him being a good guy, and that's just about every woman's dream.
Notice I said "Just about".
Duffy was quoted as saying that he would've rather had Larry Hagman's role. That Larry had all the fun, that he got to do more cool things. Considering how well loved Bobby Ewing was(Dallas' ratings took a HUGE freefall when they killed him off the first time), you wouldn't think he'd have a complaint about anything.
But Patrick does have a point, and even with Bobby's popularity, J.R. got just as much fan mail, whether it was someone wanting to beat his ass, or someone wanting him in the sheets. The bad boy got just as much recognition as the sweetheart.
This shows, more than ever, that a lot of women dig the bad boy. There's an element of danger, an element of surprise, and an element of interest in a guy that doesn't have much moral ground. With a bad guy, you know where they are coming from. Sometimes, with a good guy in this cynical world, there's the tendency to figure what their agenda is every minute. Better the enemy you know, than the enemy you don't.
I, myself, can attest to enjoying bad guy roles. The first one I played was in a short film in Savannah, GA(I'll tell the whole story of that shoot on another blog), and I didn't know what to think when I was given the role as a murderer. Always played good guys, bit parts, or goofy characters before that, so this was a role where I thought my scenes would last a while because I didn't have a basis of comparison on being bad. I didn't even drink in high school, so I wasn't exactly James Dean, you know.
But I was also hired on because my voice can carry.....and I mean REALLY carry. That part wouldn't be the problem. I was worried about being convincing, but I guess I was convincing because everyone was happy(again, another blog for another time)
Thing was that it was actually kind of cool to be bad, just for those moments. It gives you a fresh perspective on why real people do turn bad at times. Some don't figure they are bad, but they are, and some have too much fun to be honest. Now this is coming from someone who doesn't exactly have a past of being a rebel, but it truly can be more fun being bad. There's a level of adventure in not always following the rules. That doesn't mean I'm going to go on a shooting spree, or on a twenty state bank robbery spree, or even cheat on every woman I go with, but there's much more of an understanding of a bad guy, whether real or fictional.
The good thing is that I can live vicariously through bad guys the rest of my career, and be Bobby Ewing off the set.
I'll just make sure to hone up on my fighting skills.
Now this seems a little far fetched at first. Patrick Duffy played the ultimate alpha male. Rich, successful, good looking, could get women any time he wanted, and married a brick oven hot woman to boot. Combine that with him being a good guy, and that's just about every woman's dream.
Notice I said "Just about".
Duffy was quoted as saying that he would've rather had Larry Hagman's role. That Larry had all the fun, that he got to do more cool things. Considering how well loved Bobby Ewing was(Dallas' ratings took a HUGE freefall when they killed him off the first time), you wouldn't think he'd have a complaint about anything.
But Patrick does have a point, and even with Bobby's popularity, J.R. got just as much fan mail, whether it was someone wanting to beat his ass, or someone wanting him in the sheets. The bad boy got just as much recognition as the sweetheart.
This shows, more than ever, that a lot of women dig the bad boy. There's an element of danger, an element of surprise, and an element of interest in a guy that doesn't have much moral ground. With a bad guy, you know where they are coming from. Sometimes, with a good guy in this cynical world, there's the tendency to figure what their agenda is every minute. Better the enemy you know, than the enemy you don't.
I, myself, can attest to enjoying bad guy roles. The first one I played was in a short film in Savannah, GA(I'll tell the whole story of that shoot on another blog), and I didn't know what to think when I was given the role as a murderer. Always played good guys, bit parts, or goofy characters before that, so this was a role where I thought my scenes would last a while because I didn't have a basis of comparison on being bad. I didn't even drink in high school, so I wasn't exactly James Dean, you know.
But I was also hired on because my voice can carry.....and I mean REALLY carry. That part wouldn't be the problem. I was worried about being convincing, but I guess I was convincing because everyone was happy(again, another blog for another time)
Thing was that it was actually kind of cool to be bad, just for those moments. It gives you a fresh perspective on why real people do turn bad at times. Some don't figure they are bad, but they are, and some have too much fun to be honest. Now this is coming from someone who doesn't exactly have a past of being a rebel, but it truly can be more fun being bad. There's a level of adventure in not always following the rules. That doesn't mean I'm going to go on a shooting spree, or on a twenty state bank robbery spree, or even cheat on every woman I go with, but there's much more of an understanding of a bad guy, whether real or fictional.
The good thing is that I can live vicariously through bad guys the rest of my career, and be Bobby Ewing off the set.
I'll just make sure to hone up on my fighting skills.
