Are you watching Raising the Bar?  You really should.  I don't usually go for the crime and punishment shows, but I'm a fan (and before you start, I picked it up because of Gunn, not Zach).  All the kids are really swell, the writing and acting are quality, the cases are interesting, and the morality is generally grey.  

There's character on the show, D.A. Nick Balco, that is the boss of two of the kids and alongside a roster of persnikety character-actor judges, is the main antagonist of the show.  He is a Slime Ball. Not the actor (I assume). The character.  Even if you're not watching the show, I know you've seen this guy before:



See? Doesn't he look like someone who needs a good slap in the face? You know he just said something about having sex with your sister or something, just because he knows it will upset you.  The actor (Currie Graham) is phenomenal at this type of role. His imdb page is full of douchbag cops and asshole (ex-) husbands from some of the most popular shows of the last few years.  Even when he's playing a relatively good guy, there's always something about him, some defining character flaw that makes it forgivable when something very bad happens to him.  Unless he does something soon, he's in serious danger of becoming typecast as the Eternal Scumbag.

It may already be too late for him, but help is on the way! I've gathered a few notable scumbags who've managed either escape the reputation, or made it their own.

Option 1: Embrace Your Inner Dork

Role Model: Matt Damon

How It Started: If you knew Matt Damon before he was Will Hunting or Private Ryan, or simply Ben Affleck's wing man, you knew him as Charlie Dillon, the anti-Semitic pretty boy whose dream life is completely displaced by the appearance of a new (secretly Jewish) student in School Ties.  I did, anyway, and I hated him for it.  Hated him for years. Even as Damon diversified his roles, he kept enough cocky sonnavabitch in his choices to keep his reputation simmering behind him.

What Changed:  Listen to Kevin Smith talk about how unsure of himself Matt Damon was while filming Dogma.  Consider the active choice of the awkward "I wish I was as cool as Pitt or Clooney" guy in the Ocean's movies.  I'm sure ditching the Asshole's Asshole as his BFF didn't hurt, either, but Damon seems to be actively stripping the pretty-boy roles from his resume, and it's working.  He's almost endearing these days.


Option 2: Diversify

Role Model: Jason Alexander

How It Started: There are 3 things I remember about Pretty Woman. Awesome shopping montage with Larry Miller, Roberts' laugh when Gere snaps the jewelry box shut, and Jason Alexander forcing himself on Roberts and then slapping her across the face.  Almost 20 years later I can still hear his inflection on "a 50 dollar whore, maybe?"   I only watched Seinfeld intermittently, but George Costanza always felt like a watered-down loser-ish version of Stuckey.   If ever got really desperate or mad, I bet he'd smack a bitch, too.

What Changed:  Everyone loves watching him have a breakdown, but Alexander has been playing it rather smart.   Like Damon's dorkiness, Alexander's neurotic acting style slowly neutralized the initial Scumbaggery, and he's been working steadily and diversely ever since.  He's picked up a few musical roles and some voice acting to finish the job, with a few failed sitcoms thrown in for good measure.  He seems content lately to focus on crazy old man/crackpot roles, which will likely serve him well as he continues to age.


Option 3: Get Mean

Role Model: Jeremy Sisto

How It Started:  In Jane Austen's original Emma, Elton is a slimy, foppish clergyman who focuses more on advancing his station than making a love match.  In the 1995 modern translation "Clueless", Elton (played by Jeremy Sisto) is the classic rich kid jerk who, despite initial appearances, cares only about his status.  Sisto may have had several roles after this one, but this one defined him for quite a while. "Oh, look, Elton is playing Jesus." "Is that Elton as Julius Caesar."

What Changed: He was well on his way to creepy and menacing when I tuned out of Six Feet Under, but if you've seen Waitress, you already understand.  I have rarely seen something so bone-chilling real and malevolent.  I didn't just flinch for the character's sake, I flinched for Kerri Russell.  In no way do I mean to suggest that Sisto is remotely like his characters, but still.  That image is going to stick with his audience, no matter how many cop shows he joins.


Option 4: Make It Work For You

Role Model: James Spader

How It Started: Check out any Brat Pack and/or John Huges film in the 1980's and there he will be, especially if Andrew McCarthy is the film's heartthrob.  James Spader represented every reason why the super cool rich guy was never going to fall for me...once I was old enough for guys to fall for me, naturally.

What Changed: Aside from some random (awesome) anomalies like Stargate, Spader embraced the role with abandon.  As the years past he got slimier and wallowed and enjoyed every moment of it.  Instead of fighting his rep, he embraced it, recently choosing roles like Mr. Grey in Secretary and with David E. Kelley's help, creating possibly the greatest, most unrepentantly lecherous lawyer ever.  He may be irredeemable, but he's loveable just the same.  

If Nick Balco has anyone to thank for his job, it's Alan Shore, and if Currie Graham needs a career role model, my vote is James Spader.

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