The Many Faces of John Malkovich

John Malkovich dishes on his role in the Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading."

ByABC News
September 9, 2008, 3:27 PM

Sept. 10, 2008— -- Actor John Malkovich has put on many faces for his many roles. He's played the villain, the good guy, the dimwit, and yet most people don't see the man behind the outlandish personas.

It's happened nearly everywhere he's been -- fans coming up to him, identifying with one of his characters. Or worse -- believing he really is one of his characters.

"I'm not really like any of those things," he said softly during an interview on "Popcorn With Peter Travers" on ABC News Now.

Malkovich remembered being yelled at by two homeless guys on the streets of Chicago about three years ago. They recognized him from his role in 1993's action flick "In the Line of Fire."

They followed him, wondering where his bodyguard was, and then, as Malkovich re-enacted with great exaggeration --realized he was the bodyguard. Actually, they were both wrong. Malkovich was the former CIA assassin who terrorizes the bodyguard, played by Clint Eastwood.

But it's that kind of connection with fans that taught Malkovich, 54, that everyone is going to perceive him differently, and there's not a thing he can do about it.

"I never worry about things I can't control, and I can't control how people perceive me," he said.

But he does have a penchant for becoming his characters. And in his latest movie, the comic-thriller "Burn After Reading," out nationwide on Friday, Malkovich morphs into Osborne Cox, a not-so-bright CIA agent who is blackmailed by two gym employees after misplacing his memoirs.

The film, directed by Oscar winners Joel and Ethan Coen, also stars such Hollywood heavyweights as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton.

Malkovich said the Coen's were a joy to work with.

"I really loved it," he said. "I've long admired Joel and Ethan Coen's movies. I loved last year's 'No Country For Old Men.'"