Gone, Like Tears in the Rain

My first memory of Rutger Hauer –like many film fans –was as the diabolical Roy Batty in the instant classic, Bladerunner.

There was something about Hauer’s screen presence I always found unsettling. He often played ‘the bad guy’, but never played the role as over-the-top or intense or maniacal. Always more surreal, simmering, absent yet calculated. An innocuous terror. The type of antagonist that is the most fearful to me. Though copied, it’s not something I saw replicated often outside of him.

& wow, was it effective.

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In his career, he would go on to amass a stunning 176 screen credits & continued working right up to this year. Think about it: that’s fringing in Sam Jackson territory. Prolific is the most relevant word to describe his body of work. Among them, some terrific performances: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Sin City, Slow Burn, Batman Begins, True Blood, Hobo with a Shotgun & Wanted: Dead or Alive (where he delivered one of my favorite film moments of all time as his character, Nick Randall, pulls the pin of a grenade lodged in the mouth of his captor (Gene Simmons) as he says “fuck the bonus” & walks away).

Mr. Hauer died last week on July 19th at his home in Norway of an undisclosed illness. His edgy presence will be missed on screen. & His affability as we’ve often heard detailed by those who were fortunate enough to work with him & knew him, will be missed.