While looking over Doug Hutchison's filmography, you'd be hard pressed not to conclude that he's the spawn of Satan. He does seem to gravitate toward roles in which he plays, if not flat out monsters, then monstrous men. But Hutchison's not evil... he's just written that way.

"I haven't necessarily chosen to play villains," Hutchison says, reflecting on his life of crime. "I'm in my 'villian phase', presently. Eugene Tooms, the Polaroid Man, and Percy are paying the rent right now. I have a plethora of roles inside me; not just bad guys."

But the bad guys are what Hutchison is best known for. He played sadistic silicate Elroy-EL on the short-lived Space: Above & Beyond, a psychopathic stalker known only as "The Polaroid Man" on Fox's Millennium, and a glowing street punk in the feature film Batman and Robin. In the film version of John Grisham's A Time To Kill, he was redneck rapist Pete Willard, and he plays the bad guy again as prison guard Percy Wetmore in the upcoming film of Stephen King's The Green Mile. But he's probably best known for his performance as The X-Files' Eugene Victor Tooms, a super-stretchy, liver-sucking mutant from the episode "Squeeze", who was brought back for an encore in "Tooms". And those are only the most recognizable of his bad-guy billings.

"I've played lots of sympathetic characters, you just haven't had the opportunity to see them because they were incarnated on stage, non-aired TV pilots, or passing guest spots." He points specifically toward an early episode of The Young Riders, in which he played an idiot savant harmonica player. "I wouldn't say it's an Emmy-award-winning performance or anything, but it's a far cry from villainous."

That's not to say that Hutchison is unhappy with his many dastardly roles. "If there's anything that attracts me to villains," he says, "it's the challenge of humanizing them." And where other actors may fear being typecast as the perpetual villain, Hutchison scoffs at the thought of being pigeon-holed.

"Typecasting is for unimaginative casting directors and limited actors. My heroes include actors who've managed to break typecasting molds because of their dynamic range -- Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Holly Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Jennifer Jason-Leigh. These artists have transcended their 'character actor' roles and redefined 'the leading (wo)man.' I'm unafraid of typecasting because I believe, ultimately, in my versatility. I just need the right vehicle to prove I'm 'leading man' material."

That vehicle just may come for Hutchison, though it may not be in some large feature where he'll get that longed-for love scene with Nicole Kidman. He plans to direct, produce, and star in his own screenplay, Tremble Dance, in 2000, though he was unable to divulge any more details at this time.

Yes, screenwriting does count among Hutchison's many talents. "My stuff ranges from supernatural love stories, cheesy horror, quirky romance, to mythological, symbolic, and gothic-esque tales," he says. "I think more stories need to be told about love, survival, hope, and salvation. With all due respect to Tarantino, I'm unimpressed with the 'copycat' films he's inspired dripping with senseless greed, violence, and sex. It worked for Shakespeare, it worked in Pulp Fiction, but now, we're hungry for hope. At least, I am. Otherwise, I'd rather watch porn, frankly. It's more stimulating, raw, and honest than a lot of the dreck Hollywood that pumped out over the past decade."

So would he ever completely abandon his acting career for one as a screenwriter?

"Sure -- if it paid as well. Seriously -- there's a freedom in writing that acting rarely offers. As an actor, you're restricted by someone else's words (the writer), someone else's vision (the director), someone else's decisions (the producer), and the limitations of your role. When you're writing -- just you, pen, and paper. Well, you're God."

God? Well, only if God's from Delaware. Hutchison was born in Dover, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He attended Juilliard, though he dropped out after five months to train with Sanford Meisner, and studied at both The Guthrie Theater and the University of Minnesota. In addition to acting and screenwriting, he also plays the guitar and writes music; he once did both for a band called "The Yuh-Uh-Uh-Uhs". He even produced, directed, and starred in their music video, "Vampire Chickens."

But the life of an actor, writer, and vampire chicken isn't all fun and games.

"I've turned down my share of crappy scripts that I thought degraded women and/or humanity at large. My taking a role depends on a number of things: the script, the director, the cast, whether or not the part turns me on, and how much food I have in the refrigerator -- and not necessarily in that order."