An interviewer once remarked to Lee Marvin that he’d played villains for thirty years and how awful it must be always playing bad people. Marvin smiled, “Me? I don’t play bad people. I play people struggling to get through their day, doing the best they can with what life’s given them. Others may think they’re bad, but no, I never play bad people.” That’s why Marvin could be a superb villain. He was a craftsman with a deep understanding of human nature: No one thinks they’re bad.
