Woody Harrelson says likability can lead to a more interesting villain as he compares his villainous turn as Cletus Kasady in Venom 2 to Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers.
In an interview with IGN, Harrelson says humanizing villains with a companion can attract audiences to his psychopathic characters. It worked with Julliette Lewis' character in Natural Born Killers and again with Naomie Harris' character in Venom 2.
"[Companionship] is one of those aspects of the story that endears you to Cletus Kasady in spite of being a serial killer, which is good because you want to have some likable things," Harrelson said. "That's what makes for a more interesting villain."
Harrelson also discussed how to humanize serial killer characters like Cletus Kasady and Mickey Knox when an actor is in the role. He says using a character's childhood trauma can help storytellers civilize even the most truly villainous characters.
"I do feel like there's all of these incidents from one's childhood that create that level of derangement," Harrelson said. "So, I guess I try to put my imagination into that."
Find out where to watch Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The Marvel Comics movie sequel racked up $11.6 million in Thursday previews in the United States and Canada, which is the second-best of all movies domestically since April 2020 following Black Widow's $13.2 million, according to Variety.
In our Venom: Let There Be Carnage review, we said the sequel, "improves on everything from the first movie, leaning into its own absurdity. While it plays it a little safe, it still points the series in an exciting direction."
IGN also has full breakdowns of the movie's new characters Carnage and Shriek.
Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.