Every great superhero deserves a great villain and even the monstrous behemoth that is the Hulk is no different. Lucky for the producers behind The Incredible Hulk, Hollywood�s go-to guy for playing the perfect bad dude was available when they called. Enter Tim Roth.
Having played everything from an evil monkey in Planet Of The Apes to a love struck robber in Pulp Fiction and even earning a coveted Academy Award nomination as the scheming villain in 1995�s Rob Roy, Roth has earned a well-deserved reputation as the ideal rapscallion. �I don�t mind (playing villains) if they�re kind of juicy,� Roth recently told me while promoting The Incredible Hulk.
�If I�m having a good time with it, the audience tends to see that.� With The Incredible Hulk, Roth returns to form playing Emil Blonsky, an over-the-hill soldier who craves the thrill of power. When he purposely gets a greater dose of the same gamma radiation that turned rival Bruce Banner into The Hulk, he quickly takes advantage of his new beastly power � one that only the green-skinned superhero can match.
�It was a seriously large amount of fun we had making it,� says Roth.
But the shoes of his character (The Abomination) are not easy to fill. The history of The Hulk goes back to 1962 when he debuted in comic-book form.
Five years later, The Abomination made its first appearance and has since become one of The Hulk�s most revered foes.
�I was wary of (the fans) because they�re tough,� says Roth. �But they�ve actually gone through the roof. They love it.� And hardcore fans aren�t the only ones appreciating Roth�s villainous portrayal. Critics have also been kind to the latest Hulk blockbuster. It might not even be a shock to Roth if he found out the role returned him to, dare I say it, awards territory.
�(The Abomination) kind of reminds me of the Rob Roy guy in a way,� admits Roth. �As clumsily as I play it, it�s still quite carefully written so it�s sort of a bad guy experience that the audience can enjoy.�
The Incredible Hulk opens today.
>> Read Metro's review on The Incredible Hulk
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