Mads Mikkelsen, best known for playing unconventional, creepy villains, has revealed in a GQ interview that he would rather play a “loser” instead of a hunky sex symbol of a leading character.
“To combine it — to do something real and also be a cutie pie — I don’t really find it interesting,” Mikkelsen said in the interview. “I’m not into the ‘hair falling in your eyes, be cute in a corner.’ Not me. The losers are fun. Because we know them. You might have been in that situation yourself sometimes.”
The actor, who prefers the natural Meisner approach to acting over the “pretentious” “bullshit” of Method acting, has played a James Dean-esque heartthrob many times in recent years, which has drawn a niche following in America, as GQ pointed out. “I am a niche bad guy,” Mikkelsen responded. “I didn’t know there was that part also.”
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However, the villainy of roles like Kaecilius in Doctor Strange, the titular character in the Hannibal series, and most recently, the Nazi Jürgen Voller in the final installment of the Indiana Jones series, Dial of Destiny, is what he really enjoys.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll definitely do this, because it’s fun,” he said about playing characters on the dark side. “And then I can do whatever I want back in Europe.”
In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Mikkelsen spoke about playing a Nazi for the first time. “It was due,” he said. “No, I mean, it’s wrapping up this franchise, it’s wrapping up the beautiful journey of Harrison and Indiana Jones, and the script was just so beautiful and so touching, so that helped a lot. But he could have said, ‘Indiana Jones, Nazi,’ and I would’ve said, ‘Yes.’”
Mikkelsen is also set to star in the upcoming Danish film, The Bastard, as well as Dust Bunny, a horror film reuniting him with Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller. Both are slated to release this year, though no official dates have been set.
