In Character: Sam Rockwell

I’ve covered some truly fantastic actors since I began In Character last October, but only twice have I had to bend my own rules to include what I felt were the best performances by the actor I was highlighting. I typically chose an actor’s five best roles, then a final one to signify my favorite specific performance. Emily Mortimer and William H. Macy are the only two actors I’ve had to give six essential roles to. Couldn’t find a way around it. Sam Rockwell makes three.

Whether he’s a bug-eyed maniac, a soft-spoken astronaut, or a far-from-slick con man, Sam Rockwell has a power that is rarely matched by other actors of his generation. It’s those expressive eyes. They’re maddening and sad and soft and piercing. The man’s simply got it.

Five Six Essential Roles

The Green Mile (1999)

Wild Bill

Save a few minor bit roles in a handful of films here and there, before The Green Mile, Sam Rockwell was unknown to the film game. I’d be interested to know why Frank Darabont chose him to play the role of psycho killer Wild Bill, but I’d be more interested to know what specific direction Darabont gave Rockwell before filming began.

We typically see this role played one of two ways: reserved, or balls-to-the-wall, go-for-broke, batshit insane. Rockwell obviously did the latter here, and he completely owns it. He holds nothing back, and he made it simply impossible to not leave the theater wondering, “Who the hell was that guy?”

Made (2001)

Hotel Clerk

In a barely there, but no less brilliant performance, Rockwell shows up briefly as a sensative hotel clerk in Jon Favreau’s hilarious film, Made. For his first scene, Rockwell simply escorts Favreau and Vince Vaughn to their room, then engages in some awkward banter with Vaughn. His second (and final) scene in the film is something so funny, and profoundly insulting (to Rockwell’s character, not to the audience) that I’m having troubling typing this sentence through my laughter.

I simply cannot ruin it here, but trust me, the scene is reason enough to watch this movie.

Heist (2001)

Jimmy Silk

Nailing that Mamet speak for the first (and still only time, unfortunately) Rockwell plays a two-timing, wanna be hustler in the immaculately clever Heist.

Rockwell is an actor with no shortage of goon characters under his belt, Jimmy Silk being chief among them. He’s a guy that will manipulate anything and anybody just to make it ahead. He knows he has everything planned out perfectly, but we know that he really doesn’t know shit. Besides, any actor who can make a line like, “Hey, I'm as quiet as an ant pissing on cotton,” shine, deserves special recognition.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Chuck Barris

I’m so glad George Clooney was confident enough to cast Sam Rockwell as the lead in this film, because it perfectly highlights all of Rockwell’s talents. As Chuck Barris, Rockwell is given several chances to flex his extravagate mania, his eternalized turmoil, and his slimy manipulation with unapologetic vigor.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a very good film, and Rockwell is very good in it. I could make a strong case that Rockwell’s performance here is the best one of his career, but I suppose I could do that with damn near any performance on this list.

Snow Angels (2007)

Glenn

Back when David Gordon Green made great films, he directed this little-seen gem about an alcoholic in recovery (Rockwell) trying to win back the love of his wife. I’m simplifying plot details here, because Snow Angels is far too fine a film to have ruined in a crude plot summary. But just know that the role of Glenn forces Rockwell to go dive deeper into the depths of emotional pain than he ever has.

Glenn is a two-time loser, essentially trying to make good a hustle. He’s a pathetic, desperate man, and Rockwell plays him as such, the result of which is a performance of completely unhinged vulnerability.

Moon (2009)

Sam Bell

Discussing a movie as good and as clever as Moon can be rather difficult without giving too much away. There’s a lot going on here, but let me be as discrete as possible and simply say that what Rockwell does with his performance here – with his restraint, power, and tumult – is simply revelatory.

When Sam Bell is hit with some unsettling news early in the film, the first instinct for characters in movies similar to Moon would be to deny deny deny. That insistence of denial is one of the qualities I hate most in movies. Moon is too smart for that, so instead, Bell accepts what is happening, and does whatever he can to figure it out. Again, I am seriously simplifying the brilliance Rockwell pulls off here. The film is far better off witnessed in motion than in print.

The Best of the Best

Matchstick Men (2003)

Frank Mercer

An odd choice for his best, possibly, but I simply cannot help myself. I love everything about Rockwell’s Frank Mercer in Ridley Scott’s underrated con man flick. I love the way Frank shovels food into his mouth with little care as to where it lands, or the way he takes off his (clip-on) tie in a moment of frustration, and I especially enjoy the way he enters a crowded nightclub to get the attention of a new mark.

I’m not sure if I’m able to fully express the impact that that one gesture had on me, but here goes. Soon after Klaus Kinski died, Werner Herzog made My Best Fiend, a documentary about their tumultuous working relationship. In My Best Fiend, Herzog explains that he was first taken by Kinski after watching one of Kinski’s films as a child. He said there was a scene in one of Kinski’s films in which the actor awoke from sleeping, and got up and walked away. (For effect, Herzog plays the very brief movie scene three times in a row in My Best Fiend.) Herzog said he couldn’t explain it, and he didn’t anticipate that anyone would understand, but when he saw Kinski make that movement, he knew he had to work with him someday.

That is the exact same feeling I had when watching Rockwell jump down a small flight of stairs when he enters that nightclub. I saw it, and my jaw dropped. Sure, I had already seen Rockwell in The Green Mile, Made, Heist and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and when I saw him jump into that club, I knew that this guy was going to be a fucking star. I suppose I was right.

Other Notable Roles

In The Assassination of Jesse James

Charlie’s Angels (2000)

Joshua (2007)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Choke (2008)

Frost/Nixon (2008)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Conviction (2010)

Previous installments of In Character include:
John Cazale
Patricia Clarkson
Jeff Daniels
Viola Davis
William Fichtner

Brendan Gleeson
John Hawkes
Richard Jenkins
Erland Josephson
Elias Koteas
Heath Ledger
William H. Macy
David Morse
Emily Mortimer
Gary Oldman
Guy Pearce
Kevin Pollak
Campbell Scott
Michael Shannon
David Strathairn
Danny Trejo
Shea Whigham
Ray Winstone
Jeffrey Wright