Peter Greene has long since been one of my favourite supporting actors. This may be rooted in his performance in my favourite film of all time™ The Usual Suspects as the sinister and to be honest, absolute badass Redfoot. Many will know him from his role in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction as Zed - "Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead!". Others will know him as the villains in both The Mask and, erm, Martin Lawrence's Blue Streak. After coming to public attention for an acclaimed performance in the little seen Clean, Shaven, as the lead character with schizophrenia, Greene got cast in roles usually as the villain or a secondary henchman. Starring in two of the most iconic and popular films of the 90s and you think Greene would have been set. But like many talented performers, temptations can take their toll, which perhaps hindered his status as a reliable performer much like another actor I'm fond of, Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Heat and countless other roles). Much to my joy, however, Greene has re-emerged recently, albeit in supporting bit-parts on television shows and cameos in films like Training Day in 2001. He had a superbly entertaining cameo in the opening scene of Timothy Olyphant led crime show Justified in 2010, which again exhibited his intensity and ability to portray quiet but psychotically dangerous villains. Last night, he popped up on a show I began watching the other night (from 2007), The Black Donnellys, again as a villain. But his calm and calculated Dokey is a breathe of fresh air in a show that doesn't know if it wants to be The Sopranos or The OC and elevates the show in the process. While having a latter CV of films I know little or heard little about, his recent more high profile appearances on television suggest that there's life left in the underrated bad ass yet. Embedded below are probably two of the best moments of 1995's The Usual Suspects.
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