Some people are born to play heroes, while others are born to play villains. Rainn Wilson is the latter. After making a name for himself as the semi-deranged Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office, Wilson will soon set his sights on another treasured villain (no, it is not a Bond villain) when Smurfs: The Lost Village finally hits theaters. Taking on a legendary bad guy like Gargamel comes with quite a bit of responsibility, but Wilson recently explained to CinemaBlend that he was regularly encouraged to go off-script and improvise, which he loved, because of his villain status. The actor explained:
I improvised a ton. They really allowed for that, and were really excited to have me improvise. And that's what really made it fun. You know, when you're playing a hero, you really don't get to go off script so much. But a villain who goes on rants and [has] temper tantrums and soliloquies gets to have a lot of fun, so I really got to put my own stamp on it. I love doing that.
The main point that Rainn Wilson seems to be making with this comment in our recent interview is the fact that a villain has far more room to explore his or her character than a hero. A hero primarily serves to propel a given story forward, while a bad guy has far more maneuverability in terms of scenery chewing and being more animated -- literally, in this case. We have even seen examples of this sort of dynamic play out in Wilson's own career. Why do you think Dwight Schrute stole more scenes than John Krasinski's Jim Halpert while The Office was on the air? It is because Dwight was (more often than not) framed as an antagonist. Those are simply the more fun roles to play if you want to cut loose as an actor.
Rainn Wilson was likely also helped by the fact that Smurfs: The Lost Village is playing with the continuity of the Smurfs universe and allowing him to make the role of Gargamel into its own beast. The Lost Village does not necessarily follow any existing plot threads from the recent live-action Smurfs movies, so Wilson has been given a notable blank slate to craft his own version of this iconic cartoon bad guy. Considering everything that we know Rainn Wilson is already capable of, it seems like that was the right decision.
Check out a trailer for Smurfs: The Lost Village below for a closer look at the upcoming animated adventure of these beloved, blue characters.
CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to Smurfs: The Lost Village as new updates are made available to us. The film will make its theatrical debut on April 7. For more information related to the rest of this year's major theatrical releases, make sure to take a look at our comprehensive movie premiere guide and fill out your moviegoing calendars accordingly!
