I saw the new Star Trek film last night and it wasn't until I did my compulsory post viewing net-research that I realised it was Eric Bana playing the vengeful time hopping Romulan. Then it occurred to me, Australian actors seem to be cast as villains a lot of late.
There's Bana in Star Trek and Hugo Weaving doing the voice of Megatron. He also played agent Smith in the Matrix. ,Geoffery Rush was Barbossa (a villain at first), and Richard Roxburgh was the treacherous M in that adaption, Count Dracula in "Van Helsing", that annoying nonce in 'Moulin Rouge' and the generic evil master mind in 'Mission Impossible:II". Even Hugh "Nice Guy" Jackman was the murdered in Woody Allen's miserable "Scoop".
Of course, these guys are not restricted to villains. Sometimes, like David Wenham they get to be side-kicks. Then there's Russel Crowe and Mel Gibson. But even Crowe got his break by playing the reprehensible Hando in "Romper Stomper".
Does Australia's convict past make us somehow more in tune with the criminal mind? I've had it said to me and heard from other expats that we come from a nation of criminals. Of course it's said in jest. Besides, Gibson was born in the US, Crowe in New Zealand, Jackman in the UK, Weaving in Nigeria and Bana's is of Croatian and German extraction. Not much convict DNA there.
The real reason is that as non-American actors, Australians have to be the bad guys from time to time, with their funny accents and largely theatrical background, just like the British, Arabic, Irish and Austrian actors before them. With so many Australian actors in Hollywood now there is a ready supply of villains, at least until their accents change enough and their egos swell enough.
He didn't really have any role apart from threaten the existence of a planet. His back story seemed hurried. I think you're right about the stage thing. Most Australian actors have a stage background and sometimes even return. I was lucky enough to see Hugo Weaving in the White Devil a few years ago. By then he had already done the first part of the Matrix.
that is weird...
i think it has something to do with aussie (and british) actors' more traditional/stage training, while americans usually train in the realist/brando school... which is great for gritty dramas, but doesn't really have the grandiose over-the-top-ness that a villain requires.
and while i enjoyed star trek, the villain (the character not the actor) was by far the worst part.