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The Popularity of Horror Films: Asked if there’s something culturally feeding the popularity of the genre, Sean Bean responded, “I don't know. I feel there’s a sense of isolation in society today. People don’t seem to be able to come together as they once did. I think everyone feels a little lonely in some way. They can’t quite connect. This guy, obviously something’s gone wrong somewhere. He connects in very strange ways. But I do think there’s something to be said for that, the isolation that we feel, I suppose, today in certain ways. There’s a sort of fear of getting to know anyone, to trust anyone and to become loners.”
It’s Good to be Bad: Sean Bean said he really enjoys playing the villain. He was a good guy in Silent Hill and found that to be nice, but boring. “I’d obviously like to explore different areas and I want to do something a little bit lighter, but I’m quite happy playing the parts that I play. Every supposedly bad guy has a different story and a different intellect and a different approach to how they see life. That’s what makes it interesting, so I don’t look at it in terms of bad guys and villains. I just think of people who are psychologically different and nonconformist.
The joy is that you can do almost anything you want and you’ve got the freedom to sort of push the boundaries, which is extremely challenging and exciting. I mean, with actors like Nicolas Cage, you can’t quite put your finger on what he does but he pushes the boundaries. He’s very dense, very profound. He’s very interesting to watch. I don’t exactly know what he does, but what he’s doing works. I always hope that whatever part I play, that there’s a dark side to every character. You’re playing a good guy, there’s a dark side, so I always look at it like that. I think if you try to play a bad guy as mean and vicious and villainous, then you just look at the dark side and there’s always going to be blackness. Likewise, if I ever play the good guy, I’m sure there’s a little edge of darkness to him too. That’s what makes us who we are.”
