# Learning to like actors who were creeps the first time out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659 "2007-08-23T16:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/21 "2007-08-24T03:53:32Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] The first movie I saw Billy Bob Thornton in was **Sling Blade**. It was a while before I could get used to seeing him as a lady’s man and so forth. [/QUOTE] To be fair, it is very disturbing to picture Billy Bob Thornton as a ladies’ man. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/22 "2007-08-24T04:10:59Z")
I can’t watch the show **My Name is Earl** because every time I see lovable Randy I can only picture his extremely racist character in **American History X**. I want to like this show otherwise, anyone have any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/23 "2007-08-24T04:37:55Z")
I’ll hate that bitch Kathy Bates in anything after seeing _Misery_. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/24 "2007-08-24T09:47:36Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] I’ll hate that bitch Kathy Bates in anything after seeing _Misery_. [/QUOTE] That’s what YOU say, Mister Man! You’re just a lying old dirty bird. […WHAP!..] God, I love you. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/25 "2007-08-24T11:43:29Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] I’ll hate that bitch Kathy Bates in anything after seeing _Misery_. [/QUOTE] I don’t hate her, but I can’t quite shake off her psycho vibe. I saw her recently in **About Schmidt** and she was good in that role, but might as well have brought out a sledge hammer any second. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/26 "2007-08-24T12:29:35Z")
[QUOTE=adhemar] Eric Roberts, he is the creepy sleazy boyfriend in Star 80 forever. [/QUOTE] Eric Roberts, he is the creepy sleazy Ted Bancroft in “Another World.” I cannot get past him in that role. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/27 "2007-08-24T12:55:17Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] I can’t watch the show **My Name is Earl** because every time I see lovable Randy I can only picture his extremely racist character in **American History X**. I want to like this show otherwise, anyone have any suggestions? [/QUOTE] Have you seen him in **Evolution**? He plays a lovable doofus there too. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/28 "2007-08-24T15:34:57Z")
I always like Kevin Bacon. Then I saw _The Woodsman_. [The Woodsman (2004) - IMDb](http://imdb.com/title/tt0361127/) It was such a disturbing movie that I would have a hard time watching Kevin in anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/29 "2007-08-24T15:54:37Z")
Is there any movie where Jimmy Stewart isn’t at least a bit creepily intense? In everything I see him in he always seems one burst forehead vessel away from going postal on everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/30 "2007-08-24T16:03:30Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] I can’t watch the show **My Name is Earl** because every time I see lovable Randy I can only picture his extremely racist character in **American History X**. I want to like this show otherwise, anyone have any suggestions? [/QUOTE] I catch him ocassionaly in reruns of “Boy Meets World” playing opposite Ben Savage as his sensitvive poetry loving classmate who’s father is a wrestler. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/31 "2007-08-24T17:24:24Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] I can’t watch the show **My Name is Earl** because every time I see lovable Randy I can only picture his extremely racist character in **American History X**. I want to like this show otherwise, anyone have any suggestions? [/QUOTE] I always associate him with his character from _Mallrats_, who is like a more hostile version of Randy, or his very minor character from _Chasing Amy_, who is almost exactly like Randy. Almost all of both of those characters’ interactions are with Jason Lee, so it’s very good therapy as part of a “make **Captain\_C** like _My Name Is Earl_” campaign. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/32 "2007-08-24T17:47:52Z")
Clint Howard (Ron Howard’s brother and possibly the ugliest man in show business) will always be Balock from Star Trek. Quite possibly the world’s worst dubbing job as well. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/33 "2007-08-24T17:49:23Z")
The first movie I ever saw **Peter Stormare** in, he fed Steve Buscemi (well, most of him, anyway) through a wood chipper. It just gives a fascinating subtext to those Volkswagen commercials. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/34 "2007-08-24T18:18:24Z")
It was hard for Tony Perkins to shake his _Psycho_ persona for years. I don’t remember seeing him in any role after that where I wasn’t eyeing him closely, waiting for him to go all knife-wielding at any minute. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/35 "2007-08-24T18:48:30Z")
JK Simmons is one of my favorite character actors and I _loved_ him as the grumpy editor in _Spiderman_ and “easiest thing in the world” munitions guy Garth in _The LadyKillers_, but it took a while before I could shake him as the newbie raping neo-Nazi Schillinger, one of the most despicable and unredeemable creeps in TV history, on _Oz_. On the other hand, Ted Levine’s a great actor and I enjoy him on _Monk_ and in _The Laramie Project_ and other good-guy roles, but I still hear him saying “Do you wanna f\*ck me?” and “It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!” regardless of his dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/36 "2007-08-24T19:19:25Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] The first movie I ever saw **Peter Stormare** in, he fed Steve Buscemi (well, most of him, anyway) through a wood chipper. [/QUOTE] This reminds me of the conflicted feelings I have toward Michael Madsen. And “Stuck in the Middle with You”, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/37 "2007-08-24T19:43:12Z")
**Catherine Keener** is a terrific actress and fully hot, but it took me awhile to get past her performance in _Being John Malkovich_ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/38 "2007-08-24T19:54:27Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] I catch him ocassionaly in reruns of “Boy Meets World” playing opposite Ben Savage as his sensitvive poetry loving classmate who’s father is a wrestler. [/QUOTE] Frankie! That’s where I first saw him. It’s the first thing I associate him with. I know a lot of people found it weird to watch Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) playing a police captain in TV’s “Monk.” I’ve always found Juliette Lewis kind of odd from “Cape Fear.” I’ve seen parts of “The Other Sister,” so I don’t think I’ve gotten over it yet. (I know, I know, Robert De Niro’s part in “Cape Fear” was even scarier, but I think I’m used to seeing De Niro play odd guys.) ETA: It took me a while to get past seeing Angelica Huston as the scary and evil Grand High Witch in “The Witches.” ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/39 "2007-08-24T21:33:25Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] The first movie I saw Billy Bob Thornton in was **Sling Blade**. It was a while before I could get used to seeing him as a lady’s man and so forth. [/QUOTE] The first time I saw Thornton was Sling Blade. The second time I saw him, I was being screamed at to come into the living room by friends to come see, “Ol’ Childers in action!” only to see him ground-pounding Halle Barry in that one scene in Monster’s Ball. My friends were doing grunt impressions of him while he was on screen jack hammering one of the most beautiful women on the planet. I distinctly remember, “Blisters sure do hurt.” and “Get ready for some mustard and biscuits!” I put my brain in the blender and hit frappe. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659/40 "2007-08-26T06:32:28Z")
[Hugo Weaving](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915989/) will always be Agent Smith. I had to seriously restrain myself from hissing, “Mr. Frodo,” when he, as Elrond, welcomes the Fellowship to Rivendell. I saw **Pricilla, Queen of the Desert** , which I quite liked, and yet the lasting impression is from **The Matrix**. In **V for Vendetta** , his affected accent changed his voice enough that it took me a while for me to place him. That and the mask helped me to not see him as Smith, but I swear it will continue to be really difficult for me to separate him from that character whenever I see him in other roles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-to-like-actors-who-were-creeps-the-first-time-out/416659.md?page=3)