Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Do you think Michael Shannon ever wants to just play a dad? Not a dad who kills people; not a dad who hunts down drug dealers with a crazed zeal in his eyes; not a dad who promises intergalactic destruction. Just a dad who’s nice and is maybe a widower and who just wants to settle down with a nice lady who’s into his interests. Do you think Michael Shannon is waiting for his Must Love Dogs?
I mean, probably not. The closest Shannon gets to these “just a dad” roles can be found in movie theaters right now with Midnight Special. There. Shannon plays a dad who’s concerned for his son. He’s also a cult member on the run because his son is some kind of Messianic figure sought after by both the cult and the government, and this leads Shannon’s character to the kind of wild-eyed extremism we’ve come to expect from his characters. So, like … maybe next time with the normcore.
With Shannon about to get weird on screen again for the indie film Elvis & Nixon (he’ll be playing Elvis Presley, naturally), we figured it was time to rank his most notable roles by the only quality that matters: how creepy they are.
'Freeheld' (2015)
Hardly creepy at all! Shannon plays the cop partner to Julianne Moore’s character. He gets past his initial homophobia to become a fierce advocate for her as she battles the local authorities to get her pension for her domestic partner. He’s a good guy! You wouldn’t even worry that he might beat you to death! That’s revolutionary for a Michael Shannon character.
'Mud' (2013)
Collaboration #3 for Michael Shannon and Jeff Nichols. In this one, Shannon takes a back seat to Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, and Tye Sheridan. His character is not only more of an ensemble player in the film but he’s comparatively far less creepy and intense than Shannon’s characters usually are. You’d probably be very comfortable just chilling with him for a while, a feat that Shannon’s characters hardly ever achieve.
'Midnight Special' (2016)
Guys, Michael Shannon is such a good dad in this movie. He’s honestly very sweet. He makes you forget all the parts where he’s in a cult or when he threatens to shoot people with guns. He’s a good dad! Aw.
'The Runaways' (2010)
Shannon is phenomenally good in this underrated, unfortunately overlooked film about the all-girl rock band formed by Cherie Currie and Joan Jett (Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart). Shannon plays the band’s ostentatious manager, and every scene he’s in radiates with a glam energy that borders on camp. God bless him.
'The Night Before' (2015)
In the kind of featured performance that get people talking about the actor even when nobody feels like talking about the movie much, Shannon plays drug-dealer Mr. Green. Who maybe turns out to be a magical, Dickensian character? It’s super weird, you guys, but suffice it to say that Michael Shannon is only mildly creepy.
'99 Homes' (2015)
Here, Shannon plays a real estate creep screwing over homeowners and getting rich off of their misfortune. He’s also such a forceful, type-A figure that he ends up wrapping Andrew Garfield’s character into his rotten ethos. It’s one of Shannon’s less creepy roles (relatively speaking) if only because his behavior is equally as magnetic as it is repulsive.
'Shotgun Stories' (2008)
Director Jeff Nichols has cast Michael Shannon in every one of his five films, starting with this indie that put the both of them on the map, at least when it came to film critics. Shannon plays a man in rural Arkansas who ends up embroiled in a series of violent conflicts with the sons of his father’s second marriage. Shannon’s character feels more lived-in and intense than actively creepy, but, you know, it’s still Michael Shannon.
'Revolutionary Road' (2008)
Shannon got a surprise Oscar nomination for his small role in the Leonardo DiCaprio/Kate Winslet marital drama. His character shows up around 2/3 of the way into the movie to serve the “truth in madness” cliche, playing a mentally disturbed young man who sees right through Leo and Kate’s pleasant facade.
'Take Shelter' (2011)
Shannon’s second collaboration with director Jeff Nichols was a huge critical success — Shannon was in the Best Actor Oscar discussion for a long time — and is for many the high point of both men’s careers. Shannon’s character is plagued by visions of an apocalyptic event, and a madness grows inside him as a result. He gets steadily more crazed and unstable until even his wife (Jessica Chastain) can’t take it anymore.
'Man of Steel' (2013)
As soon as Zack Snyder cast Shannon as General Zod, we knew what kind of villain we’d be getting to oppose Henry Cavil’s Superman. From his very first appearance in a trailer (“I WILL FIND HIM!”), Zod was cast in Shannon’s maniacal image.
'Bug' (2007)
Shannon reprised his role from Tracy Letts’ stage production for director William Friedkin (The Exorcist) in this film that was far more about paranoia than the creature-movie that the misleading trailers promised. Audiences got pissed at the misdirection, but the film itself is utterly fantastic, with Shannon jumping off the screen as a man whose paranoia reaches depths you don’t believe it can go.
'Premium Rush' (2012)
This is it. This is the apex role in Shannon’s pantheon of bug-eyed, weirdo, intense psychopaths who you’d do well to cross the street rather than encounter them. He plays a cop with a gambling problem who ends up hunting down Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s bike messenger with all the unkillable determination of the T-1000, only if the T-1000 had eyeballs that protruded out of his skull while battling back-alley lowlives.
