John Malkovich

John Malkovich seems to be making an attempt to form a wider palette. And while the sight of an intentionally funny John Malkovich used to be a rare treat (think Being John Malkovich, where he gave the greatest performance of his career basically playing himself), his comic turns in Burn After Reading and The Great Buck Howard shows a new avenue for this celebrated 'serious actor'.

Malkovich and Walken still play villains on occasion. Walken scored with The Rundown and the shockingly hilarious Balls Of Fury, while Malkovich is signed to play the heavy in Jonah Hex. But none of the boogie-men of the 1980s and 1990s truly terrify audiences anymore. Maybe it's just a matter of getting older. Maybe it's just a matter of actors deciding to let the audience in on the fun while they still can (I know Walken changed agents in the early 2000s and started getting a lot pickier).

Whatever the reason, I'm eagerly awaiting the virtuous rebirth of (as Chris Rock introduced him at the 2005 Oscars) 'comedy superstar Jeremy Irons'. In Hollywood it seems, when you're a bad guy, you either die a villain (like, alas, JT Walsh), or you live long enough to see yourself become a hero and/or punchline. From appearing in the PG-rated spy comedy Johnny English (where, irony or ironies, he actually played a jewel thief) to apparently playing a virtuous preacher battling city-wide corruption in The Changeling.