Hollywood loves a comeback story. Just ask Ben Affleck (Hollywoodland), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, Iron Man 2) and Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, The Expendables). Stephen Dorff, once a young, charismatic risktaker who turned heads in films like The Power of One, I Shot Andy Warhol and Blood and Wine, made a name for himself as bad guy Deacon Frost in the first Blade film. That was 1998. Since then, the best Dorff has given us is John Waters’ Cecil B. Demented.
That is, until last year, in which he made solid appearances in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and Tony Kaye’s Black Water Transit. 2010 only looks better, with a leading role in Sofia Coppola’s much-anticipated Somewhere. Dorff will play Johnny Marco, a has-been Hollywood actor whose discovery that he has a daughter changes his life in more ways than one. It sounds like something akin to Affleck’s turn as George Reeves: a role so close to home it makes perfect sense.
The hype has Dorff back on people’s minds, and now into Tarsem Singh’s next epic, War of the Gods, alongside Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto and Kellan Lutz.
Here’s taste of what Tarsem’s film will concern:
Cavill’s Theseus as he leads men and gods alike into battle against titans in order to save mankind. Dorff will play Stavros, a master thief who joins Theseus on his quest with Lutz as the lord of the sea Poseidon; Rourke as the ancient Greek ruler King Hyperion; and Pinto as the oracle priestess, Phaedra. [The Playlist]
“Master thief” sounds just find for Dorff, who’s got a slimy charm probably best exemplified on the criminally-underseen 1997 indie City of Industry.
And while the future of Dorff’s career, much like Tarsem’s project, still remains up in the air, these are all good things. Hopefully the veteran makes the most of them.
Do you know Stephen Dorff? What do you think of him?