Since terrifying parents and boosting sales of black eyeliner with 1994’s Portrait of an American Family, Marilyn Manson has etched his way into American pop culture as one of music’s more controversial characters. Aside from music, the shock rock singer has ventured into acting over the years, with his first role being in David Lynch’s neo-noir thriller, Lost Highway. Since then, we’ve seen Manson play everything from crazy, fun drag queens to crazy, not-so-fun Aryan gang leaders.
To mark the singer’s 46th birthday, I’m taking a look at his various acting roles over the years and ranking them on Manson’s creepiness. Let’s get started.
9. Once Upon a Time, the Shadow — 2013
Technically, Manson’s part on Once Upon a Time is just voiceover work, since he’s playing Peter Pan’s evil shadow, but hey, something had to come in last. If you missed the credits or forgot to comb through the Once Upon a Time message boards that week, you might have missed that it was his voice since his character had minimal lines and a voice that sounded more like the Predator than anything else.
8. Party Monster, Christina — 2003
Marilyn Manson as an off-the-wall crazy drag queen had to be a no-brainer for the casting director of Party Monster, and it worked perfectly. Twenty bucks says he showed up to set and was able to skip right past makeup and wardrobe and just start shooting. Again, Manson doesn’t have a lot of lines in this role, but sometimes acting is just about going with the moment and driving a truck on acid.
7. Eastbound & Down, Roller Rink Server — 2013
Marilyn Manson didn’t hide the fact that he was a huge fan of Eastbound & Down, and Danny McBride honored his request for a cameo by making him a roller skating waiter/nerd. It might have been fun to see Manson’s character’s story drawn out a bit more, but once you turn down the hand of April Powers in marriage, Kenny Powers no longer has a use for you.
6. Rise: Blood Hunter, bartender — 2007
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who missed Rise: Blood Hunter — and you probably are, because the movie sank faster than a bag of rocks and kittens — lemme fill you in: Lucy Liu is a sexy reporter who must get the scoop on who turned her into a sexy vampire. Marilyn Manson convincingly plays a bartender who doesn’t care about Lucy Liu’s investigation, but he doesn’t care about shirt sleeves either, so random dudes on a payphone are an afterthought.
5. Wrong Cops, David Dolores Frank — 2013
I haven’t seen Wrong Cops, but based on the first 30 seconds of this clip, I want to. I know for that Let’s Be Cops did NOT have a cameo by Marilyn Manson as a goofy skateboarder, so automatically Wrong Cops has a leg up. Sorry, Damon Wayans Jr.
4. Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, The Dark Man — 2010
Tim and Eric are doing their part to educate the youth of America on the trials and tribulations of life. This particular lesson: if you’re cruel to birds, Marilyn Manson will destroy you. I don’t have scientific proof, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Marilyn Manson did have the power to turn himself into a crow.
3. The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, Jackson — 2004
Asia Argento’s 2004 drama/child services nightmare isn’t the kind of movie you put on for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. It is, however, a movie that leaves you feeling like you need a shower. Marilyn Manson plays the protagonist’s new boyfriend and becomes the father that her son never had. Just kidding, he does bad things to the kid. Yet somehow, people on YouTube are able to overlook that and find his character sexy. Weird.
2. Sons of Anarchy, Ron Tully — 2014
The final season of Sons of Anarchy was full of new romances: Tig and Venus Van Damme, Ratboy and Brooke, Juice and Ron Tully. Granted, Juice’s romance was less fairy tale and more horrifying nightmare, but I don’t wanna nitpick. Manson’s part as Aryan prison gang leader Ron Tully was by far the singer’s broadest acting role to date, but it wasn’t his best. That title goes to…
1. Jawbreaker, the Stranger — 1999
This was one of Marilyn Manson’s earliest acting roles and, at the time, there was nobody on the planet better suited to play such a pervy dude. Manson didn’t even have any speaking lines, but that didn’t matter. He was dating Rose McGowan at the time and I’m betting that their sex was just as creepy as it’s depicted in the movie — with or without a dead body under the bed.
And garnering special mention… Lost Highway porno star — 1997
It’s important to note that according to IMDB, his character is not a “porn star” but a “porno star” — which has a much more retro ring to it.
