Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman has played a variety of roles in thrillers, from the police psychologist searching for his niece in Kiss the Girls, to the friendly bank robber in Hard Rain. He has an almost reasonable tone whenever he is talking – as if the things that are happening are ordinary run of the mill, which makes the crimes seem even worse. One of the best films he was in was Seven with Brad Pitt, searching for a serial killer killing people who were guilty of the seven deadly sins. Other thrillers he has appeared in include: Wanted, Gone Baby Gone, Dark Knight and the Sum Of All fears.

If we were to add a police detective in our work, I would base him on Morgan Freeman’s character Alex Cross as he would be a good contrast to the killer. His almost laid back approach is directly opposite to the franticness of a killer.

Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon and in Hannibal. He comes across as a very intelligent and arrogant character. He never raises his voice and tends to speak quietly and calmly. In all of the films, Lecter has a close relationship with FBI agents; he appears to be helping but it is clearly for his own gain, and in Red Dragon where he gives the killer known as the tooth fairy the agent’s address, perverse enjoyment.

Hopkins is very effective in this role. He looks mild mannered most of the time, but then the director would change the angle and he looks positively evil. He has very intense eyes.

   

Evil Lecter                                                                            Slightly Less Evil Lecter

Characters

The characters in thrillers seem to be split into several similar types

.

a) the normal guy in the street who is actually a serial killer

b) the detective/law enforcement person caught up in the case

c) the victims

I thought that Heath Ledger in Dark Knight was brilliant as The Joker, but it was Aaron Eckhart, who went from being the white knight to murderer who was more effective and scarier, especially after he had been scarred.

Christian Bale

Christian Bale was brilliant as Batman in Dark Knight, even though it was Heath Ledger who won all the accolades. He was good because he seemed to be holding in the anger of Batman – if he had let his rage out, he would have been worse than the criminals he was chasing.

He was also scary in American Psycho as an average banker who hides another persona – that of a murderous serial killer.