This snapshot takes a look at veteran character actor Brad Dourif. Probably best known for his work in horror, most notably as the voice of Chucky-the-very-evil-doll in the Child's Play series, he's done a little bit of everything since he started making movies in 1975. His second role, as Billy Bibbit in Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, shot him to notoriety and garnered several awards nominations.
I had a crush on Dourif for a terribly long time, and then I met him at a con. He was pleasant enough and I was certainly happy to be meeting him, but his hair style & facial hair made him look just like my father about a decade ago and suddenly he was a lot less attractive to me. On top of that, I reverted to a bumbling fangirl, practically unable to string together two words without giggling. *sheesh* Ah well. I still appreciate his work and enjoy watching him play what is often the slimiest character in a picture.
This list is limited to his scifi/fantasy work. Some things are missing, but I think I covered the big ones.
Dune (1984) I made the mistake of seeing this movie as soon as it came out, within days of reading the book. I've had better cinematic experiences, and after more than 20 years I haven't seen it again and I remember almost nothing about it.
The X-Files - "Beyond the Sea" (1994) Easily one of the best characters Dourif has played, and one of the best bad guys X-Files saw, Luther Lee Boggs was frightening and pathetic and manipulative, while somehow being endearing.
Babylon 5 - "Passing through Gethsemane" (1995) Though the writing & directing make this not one of the best episodes [JMS really did need an editor], I enjoyed seeing Dourif on my favourite show.
ST: Voyager - multiple eps (1996) I guess it's time I admit I never caught more than a handful of Voyager eps.
Alien: Resurrection (1997) I hardly know what to say, this was such a bad movie. Dourif's character outdid slimy, though, so that's something. Incidentally, this was written by Joss Whedon [creator of Firefly].
Myst III: Exile (2001) This was a video game in the Myst series with live action characters, featuring Dourif as - you guessed - the bad guy. In his defense, he was seeking revenge for something awful. I enjoyed the game and it was a real treat to see one of my favourite actors show up every so often.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers & Return of the King (2002, '03) Though it's best if I don't go into my opinion of these movies in this post [see my upcoming feature "Why Peter Jackson is on my shitlist"], I can unreservedly say I enjoyed Dourif's performance as Grima Wormtongue. He was slimy, sniveling, manipulative, and grotesque. Yay!
If I've missed anything significant, let me know; also, tell me if you know of any Brad Dourif porn I should be aware of.
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3 comments:
I also have a great love for the Dourif. I'm surprised that you made no mention of his role as the town doctor on Deadwood, where he was predictably awesome. The episode, "Requiem for a Gleet" was one of my favorites.
Fie upon thee for missing so much Voyager. I guess that show was pretty much designed for dudes with a MILF fetish, those who'd like to fuck 7 of 9, and guys who like pretty asian ensign boys. Being all three, it was a great show for me.
I've never seen much Chucky. That which I did see was boring.
I would recommend that you revisit Dune. It gets better with each subsequent viewing. Back in the 90's when I was living at the Reservoir house, Jake and I used to get high as all fuck and watch it on a regular basis. What I'd really like to do is get my hands on the super extended version, which is like six hours long.
You know how I know you're gay? Because you only shave your legs for Dragoncon, you carpetmunching titqueen.
I heard an evil rumor that you watched some Deadwood and didn't like Dourif's performance in it -- specifically, that you found it "over the top." Given that his character in Deadwood is at least a sane human being, compared with the mad gibbering wretches Dourif usually plays, this made no sense to me. In any event, I very much encourage you to revisit Deadwood at some point -- I've just been on a binge, and the show is fucking awesome. (I'm in the middle of season 3 now, and the writing is beginning to falter somewhat, but this is the first time that's happened, so you have at least a couple of seasons of pure gold [so to speak] ahead of you.) Dourif's character definitely develops nicely over the course of the series, as do the relationships between the Doc and various other characters, my favorite probably being Calamity Jane.
Hope all is well in the Big Apple, give Ella a kick for me, much love,
Slappy
Alright, you two, settle down. In fact, I did watch all of Deadwood, and it is true that I thought Dourif, like most of the cast, was hammy. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it some; I mean, I love swearing, and that show certainly scratched that itch over & over. We played a round of the Deadwood drinking game, but I don't think there's a single scene in the entire series without the word cocksucker in it, so it's hard not to get plowed pretty fuckin' fast. IIRC, we could not keep up, literally***. But I digress. While I agree that it was an exceptional show in damn near every respect, I found that, for my tastes, it was also just a bit over the top in most respects. Dourif's performance was all right, but not one of my favourites, either for him or for the show.
Cowboy, I didn't include Deadwood on the list because it's not scifi or fantasy. I am entirely open to seeing Dune again, and I think the high-as-all-fuck condition is a stellar recommendation.
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