It's been a while since we've seen Patrick Stewart villain it up on the big screen. Since the one-two of MASTERMINDS (evil moustache) and CONSPIRACY THEORY (evil glasses) in '97, Stewart has been just fine playing elder statesman types, including a certain telepathic paraplegic. However, for GREEN ROOM, Jeremy Saulnier's follow-up to last year's BLUE RUIN, Stewart will once again traverse to the dark side as the violent leader of a white supremacist gang.
Stewart will play skinhead Darcy Banker, "the unflinching and industrial leader of a ferocious white supremacist fiefdom based in the Pacific Northwest." Saulnier's film focuses on Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, and Alia Shawkat as members of a rock band who are held captive by the neo-Nazis after they witness them committing a violent crime.
BLUE RUIN didn't set the world afire or anything, but it had a strong swell of support from the critical community, and it's nice to see that Saulnier is working with a bigger canvas in terms of both budget and cast this time around. Having Stewart in such a prominent villain role (as a skinhead no less!) is one of those instant profile-boosters for both myself and, I believe, audiences in general. I hope we get to see him spouting racist propaganda with that "THE LINE MUST BE DRAWN HERE!!" fervor of his.
What y'all think? Must-see, or blatant stunt-casting?
