Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.comTom Waits' schedule is suddenly filling up: On top of his excellent new album Bad as Me, Waits has signed on to bring his gravelly voice to a new film called Seven Psychopaths, presumably in the role of one of the psychopaths. The Amp's favorite singer-who-acts joins a stellar cast that includes Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, and Christopher Walken. According to Collider, In Bruges director Martin McDonagh will helm the film. (The mere thought of maybe seeing Waits, Harrelson, Walken and Rockwell sharing a scene together in a black comedy about a trio of friends who kidnap a gangster's Shih Tzu already guarantees that we'll be purchasing a movie ticket.)
Since Waits rarely tours, watching the singer on the big screen is often the only way his fans can see him in action. Had Tom Waits not become a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, he almost certainly would have carved out a comfortable living as a character actor. Waits is just one of those under-appreciated guys -- like Harry Dean Stanton, Warren Oates, and Allen Garfield -- whose screen presence instantly makes a film better. All of those actors are prone to starring in the occasional bad movie, but they at least helped make turn a two-star flick into a two-and-a-half-star film. Below, watch five clips from Waits' best roles:
Down By Law
The Fisher King
Short Cuts
Cigarettes and Coffee
Domino
And let's not forget Waits' indispensable contributions to the soundtracks for Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth and Francis Ford Coppola's One From the Heart.