In the first season of FX's drama "Nip/Tuck," John Hensley, who plays Matt, the perpetually troubled son of plastic surgeons, attempted to circumcise himself. A few seasons later, a white supremacist holding Matt captive forced him at gunpoint to cut off the penis of a transgender friend of Matt's.
And in the newly released movie "Teeth," Hensley portrays Brad, a brooding creep who unwittingly puts himself in harm's way with his infatuation with his stepsister, unaware that she has a rare condition that gives her a toothed vagina when she feels threatened. Of course, it's a comedy.
"There seems to be a connection here -- oh, man, I don't want to get dismembered anymore," Hensley joked about considering future projects. "Maybe I need to have a talk with my agent."
But though his roles don't seem to have much sunshine, Hensley -- whose stylish hair, distinctive but not grandiose tattoos and new indie cred make him a suitable fit for the current edgy young Hollywood -- is celebrating his walks on the dark side. Even though Matt is more tortured this season, the actor is having fun on the hyper-soapy "Nip/Tuck." And he's equally excited about the response to his glowering turn in "Teeth," in which he lashes out at everyone who comes near him. He was initially concerned that viewers wouldn't get the twisted humor of the film
"The first time I saw it at Sundance was with an audience, and they totally got it," Hensley said. "It was a real validation of my own take on the story."
For an actor currently on display both as a recovering drug addict and as an unsmiling brute whose only friend is a vicious attack dog, Hensley projects an infectious likability that is the polar opposite of his tense screen personas. He is polite, asking a visitor to his hillside home high off Laurel Canyon Boulevard whether it's OK if he smokes. He is proud of his motorcycles, his key mode of transportation.
Considering the similarities between Matt and Brad, he leans forward as if realizing for the first time that the two were brothers in angst.
"Brad is what would have happened if no one put the brakes on Matt," he said. "People might see Brad as this bad guy, but I never saw him as that. He's just a victim of circumstances. My initial intention was to have him be pure evil, but I really wanted to try and find the humanity in him.
"Matt is a victim of circumstances too, because he's grown up in this environment of highly dysfunctional people."
