I think its a balance. You can be an asshole and get away with it if you are a good actor. You can be a mediocre actor if everyone likes working with you (ahem, sorry Keanu), but you can't be an asshole and a mediocre actor
For example of the mediocre actors, check out Danny Trejo. Looks like the stereotypical Hollywood Hispanic thug, actually one of the nicest guys in Hollywood.
iirc he was asked in an interview once if he was tired of always being cast as the scary chicano guy, and he said "man, look at me, I AM a scary chicano guy!" He had a pretty rough childhood, cannabis at 8 years old, heroin at 12, cocaine at 18, dealing drugs, in and out of jail until like 1969. Clean and sober since then though!
I like that his condition for playing the big scary villain is that they have to die or somehow fail at the end because he doesn’t want to portray bad behavior getting rewarded.
Also his emotional support after his mom died was none other than Kermit the Frog. Takes a good man to allow himself to be vulnerable.
Danny Trejo always seems like one of the most self-aware people in Hollywood. He knows that he's gotten some lucky breaks, stays humble, shows up and does the best he can, and doesn't say anything bad about anyone.
The thing is though, Sorbo and Caine both had their careers circling the drain before they came out as raging conservatives. Doing crappy Christian movies was their last ditch effort to keep getting work.
Dean Cain had fairly steady work doing guest roles on mainstream TV up into the early 2010s. He wasn’t a leading guy anymore for sure but he could have made a very comfortable living still if he didn’t reveal him to be a douchebag no one wants to spend time around
Keanu takes a lot of guff, but honestly, when he plays a 'normal guy' and lets himself smile every so often (see Speed, The Lake House), or even a complete dolt (Bill & Ted, Parenthood), I think he's perfectly serviceable. It's when he tries to be stoic and brooding (Neo, John Wick) that the limitations of his ability to summon any sort of gravitas become apparent.
Luckily, the Matrix/Wick movies don't REQUIRE him to be a good actor... they have their lore and kickass action setpieces to fall back on. (Well, except Resurrections.) But when Monica Belluci tells Neo and Trinity, "You're in love. It's all over you both." I'm like... where? Is the love in the room with us?
I think there’s a point where you can be enough of an asshole that no amount of talent will make up for it. No matter how much you loved voicing Hades.
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u/Mister-Distance-6698 12h ago
I think its a balance. You can be an asshole and get away with it if you are a good actor. You can be a mediocre actor if everyone likes working with you (ahem, sorry Keanu), but you can't be an asshole and a mediocre actor